Meta is poised to acquire a 49% stake in Scale AI, an American startup helmed by 28-year-old Alexandr Wang, in a deal worth ₹1.91 lakh crore. Reports suggest the investment will be officially unveiled soon by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who is increasingly being described as a “wartime CEO” — prioritizing technological supremacy over caution in the global AI race.
Scale AI, which recently secured a major contract with the U.S. Department of Defense, is at the cutting edge of military-grade artificial intelligence. Meta’s strategic move comes amid mounting competition from rivals like OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic.
From the Metaverse to Superintelligence
This deal marks a decisive pivot from Meta’s earlier focus on the Metaverse — a high-risk experiment that cost the company tens of billions, yet failed to generate sustained traction. The new direction is aimed at leapfrogging current capabilities of large language models and accelerating the path to “superintelligence” — hypothetical AI systems that can outperform humans across all domains.
Analysts warn, however, that while the industry is not yet at that level, the rapid pace of innovation over the last 18 months suggests a breakthrough could arrive before 2030.
Regulatory Warnings and Global Alarm Bells
The proposed deal has reignited debate in Europe and beyond about the need for publicly accountable AI research. Leading experts have suggested a CERN-like initiative for AI — a global collaboration to ensure openness, ethical research, and transparent development of AGI (Artificial General Intelligence).
The UN’s “Summit of the Future” has also highlighted the danger of AI progressing in closed corporate labs without adequate oversight. Risks include internal biases, weaponization, economic monopolization, and ethical failure.
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Geoffrey Hinton, often referred to as the “godfather of AI,” resigned from Google in 2023 over similar concerns — warning the world could be heading into a technological nightmare if checks aren’t placed in time.
The Stakes: Control, Power, and Humanity’s Future
Observers say Meta’s latest play, especially in the wake of its Metaverse debacle, is a bold attempt to reassert itself in a space increasingly dominated by its competitors. With money, influence, and geopolitical stakes all in play, the AI arms race is not just about innovation — it’s about control.
Meta’s investment into Scale AI could shift the balance of power, but it also adds urgency to global discussions on building guardrails around AI development. Whether this ₹1.91 lakh crore gamble reclaims Meta’s lost glory or plunges the world deeper into uncharted technological territory remains to be seen.