Meta invests $14.3B in Scale AI to fuel a new superintelligence lab—gaining infrastructure and leadership, but raising doubts about Scale’s future.

Meta’s investment is the latest attempt by chief executive Mark Zuckerberg to give his $1.8 trillion social media company an edge in the race to develop more powerful AI models. Zuckerberg has been trying to poach top researchers and engineers from rival groups as he seeks to build out a new “superintelligence” team.

Meta Platforms Inc. has finalized a multibillion-dollar investment in Scale AI and recruited the startup’s chief executive officer to join its artificial intelligence efforts — an unusual deal that signals a heightened push by the social media giant to catch up on AI development.