🤖 Meta's Superintelligence Play
Zuck’s breaking the bank to build his AI super team
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In case you missed it:
Zuck just paid $14 billion to acqui-hire a 28-year-old.
Forget the 2017 Golden State Warriors.
Meta is building its very own “super team.”
Last week, Mark Zuckerberg stunned the tech world not by buying a company, but by buying into a person: Alexandr Wang, the 28-year-old CEO of Scale AI. In exchange, Wang will lead a secretive new initiative inside Meta: a “Superintelligence” lab tasked with building AI that could one day surpass human capabilities.
And it might just be the most expensive acqui-hire in tech history.
But why now? Why Wang? And what’s behind the “superintelligence” concept?
Beneath the headlines lies a deeper story about power, pressure, and platform survival. Let’s break down what Meta’s really building.
Today at a glance:
What just happened?
Why Scale? Why now?
Who is Alexandr Wang?
Superintelligence or Superbranding?
Big Tech’s largest AI deals (so far)
Red flags & fine print
Zuckerberg’s last stand?
The investor lens
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1. What Just Happened?
Meta just made its second-largest deal ever, without technically acquiring anything.
The company is investing $14 billion for a 49% stake in Scale AI, a startup best known for powering the data infrastructure behind AI models used by OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and yes, Meta itself.
But the real story isn’t the ownership stake.
It’s all about Alexandr Wang, Scale’s 28-year-old founder and CEO, who is joining Meta to lead a newly created Superintelligence lab, a high-priority division reporting directly to Mark Zuckerberg.
The lab’s mission is to build next-generation AI models that go beyond today’s LLMs—potentially toward Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), or even “superintelligence,” a term that suggests machines more capable than the human brain.
The deal is structured as a partial acquisition, likely designed to sidestep regulatory scrutiny. Instead of buying Scale outright, Meta is funneling most of the investment to existing shareholders and locking in access to Scale’s services. Think of it as a strategic acqui-hire at $14 billion scale—with influence, not control.
It’s Meta’s boldest AI move yet—and one of the most expensive recruiting packages in tech history.
This deal instantly:
Locks in long-term access to Scale’s data-labeling engine.
Injects new leadership into Meta’s fragmented AI org.
Sends a signal: Meta is all-in on building foundational models—and it’s done waiting to catch up.
It’s a power reshuffle, a talent play, and a strategic reset all wrapped into one.
2. Why This? Why Now?
Meta’s AI efforts are, by many accounts, falling short.