The negotiations started as just one billionaire tech founder talking to another. Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg approached Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang in mid-April about a potentially industry-shaking deal.

Scale AI co-founder Alexandr Wang is such an enthusiastic networker that his former roommate — OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman — once jokingly told him to tone it down a bit.Fortunately for Wang,

Google is reportedly cutting ties with Scale AI after Meta acquired a 49% stake in the data-labeling startup, according to Benzinga. Google was previously Scale AI’s largest customer, and it is reportedly planning to end its relationship with the company.

Here’s what you need to know about the deal, what its implications may be, and why Wang is of such interest to Zuckerberg’s sprawling digital content company. Wang dropped out of MIT in his freshman year to co-found Scale with social media influencer and engineer Lucy Guo.

Despite the $14.3 billion investment that is shaking up the AI landscape, OpenAI's CFO says the company plans to keep working with Scale AI.

Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg is bringing in Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang to help the social media company better execute on its AI ambitions.

As part of the deal, Scale AI’s CEO will take a top position inside Meta, leading a new “superintelligence” lab, according to the report.

Meta Platforms is reportedly acquiring a 49% stake in Scale AI, a leading data labeling company that powers many AI applications, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg seeks to strengthen Meta’s position in the competitive artificial intelligence landscape.

It’s easily the most expensive hire of all time, dwarfing the billions that Google spent to rehire Noam Shazeer and his core team from Character.AI (a deal Zuckerberg passed on). “Opportunities of this magnitude often come at a cost,” Wang wrote in his note to employees this week. “In this instance, that cost is my departure.”