Scale AI plans to promote strategy chief Droege to CEO as founder Wang heads for Meta

In a significant leadership transition, Scale AI is set to elevate Chief Strategy Officer Jason Droege to the role of CEO. This move comes as the company's founder, Alexandr Wang, prepares to join Meta, following a substantial multibillion-dollar agreement, as confirmed by sources close to the matter. Reports indicate that Meta is finalizing a $14 billion investment into Scale AI, a leading startup in the artificial intelligence sector. With this partnership, Wang will take on a pivotal role in establishing a new AI research lab at Meta, alongside several of his colleagues from Scale AI. This development was initially reported by The New York Times. Bloomberg was the first to disclose Droege's upcoming appointment as CEO, a change corroborated by CNBC through a confidential source. Attempts to obtain comments from Scale AI and Droege were unsuccessful. Droege, who joined Scale AI in August 2024, previously held notable positions as a venture partner at Benchmark and as a vice president at Uber. Founded in 2016, Scale AI has gained prominence by assisting major tech players like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft in preparing data for training advanced AI models. Meta has been investing heavily in AI development, although CEO Mark Zuckerberg has expressed frustration regarding the pace of progress. With Wang's expertise, Zuckerberg aims to enhance Meta's AI strategies, especially after the lukewarm reception of the company's recent Llama AI models. According to reports, Meta will acquire a 49% stake in Scale AI as part of this investment deal.