Scale AI: how a startup turned data labeling for AI into a multi-billion dollar business

Session Overview

Data labeling was not a new field at the time of Scale’s inception in mid-2016 --- however, its importance grew rapidly as ML / deep learning became a critical enabler of some of the most disruptive technologies of our day (self driving, large language models, etc.). Founder Alexandr Wang navigated this dynamic and rapidly evolving landscape to build a multi-billion dollar data labeling business that became the core of many of leading AI labs. In the process, he and his team created and adopted a number of technical, operational, and company cultural practices and innovations that made this rapid ascent possible. This talk discusses some of these in the context of the company’s history from its early founding days to the recent Meta investment.