OpenAI Distanced Itself From Scale AI Before Meta Acquired 49% Stake

Meta’s purchase of a 49% stake in Scale AI for $15 billion has sparked concern across the AI ecosystem, especially among former clients like OpenAI, Forbes Daily reported.

OpenAI had reportedly already begun winding down its relationship with Scale before the Meta deal was finalized.

Four sources confirmed that OpenAI had already begun winding down its relationship with Scale before the Meta deal was finalized.

Scale AI, once a cornerstone of the data labeling industry with $870 million in 2024 revenue, built its business by coordinating clickworker armies — largely overseas — to help train AI systems for clients such as OpenAI, Microsoft, and Cohere.

But commodification of data labeling and rising competition have chipped away at Scale’s moat.

Meta’s near-controlling stake raises alarms that proprietary data or strategic insights gleaned from other AI firms could be exposed or leveraged unfairly. “Access to quality human-labeled data has long been the moat for AI leaders like OpenAI and Anthropic,” Forbes noted.

Now, Meta’s investment may shift the dynamics of trust and competition in the data supply chain. Scale AI spokesperson Joe Osborne denied that OpenAI had scaled back spending, but industry insiders say the relationship is cooling fast.