This 28-year-old is now leading Meta’s Superintelligence Labs after $14 billion deal
Meta has handed its AI superintelligence programme to Alexandr Wang, the 28-year-old founder of Scale AI, in a $14.3 billion deal. Wang, now head of Meta Superintelligence Labs, has already reorganised teams to sharpen focus on research, product, and infrastructure.
New Delhi: The global race for artificial intelligence is heating up and Big Tech is pulling out all stops. Meta, Microsoft, Google and Apple are all trying to secure the brightest minds for their AI teams. Out of them, Meta has gone the boldest. Earlier this year, Mark Zuckerberg put down a staggering 14.3 billion dollars (around ₹1.24 lakh crore) to bring in Alexandr Wang, the founder of Scale AI, and made him the chief architect of Meta’s superintelligence programme.
For a 28-year-old who once slept on air mattresses while building his startup, this is a jump that shows how quickly fortunes can turn in Silicon Valley. Today, Wang is not only Meta’s new AI officer but also the person heading an entirely new wing called Meta Superintelligence Labs.
From Scale AI to Meta’s AI chief
Alexandr Wang began his journey in 2016 with Scale AI, which he co-founded with Lucy Guo. At the time, they worked out of a startup accelerator, barely managing with minimal resources. The hustle paid off as Scale AI soon became one of the most talked-about companies in the field of data labelling. By 2024, the firm was valued at nearly 14 billion dollars with big names like Nvidia, Amazon and Meta backing it.
Born in New Mexico to Chinese immigrant physicists, Wang dropped out of MIT to pursue his dream. That gamble made him a billionaire in his twenties and also gave him strong ties with leaders in the Valley and in Washington D.C. His network includes OpenAI’s Sam Altman and U.S. lawmakers who have been shaping AI policy.
Zuckerberg’s big bet
According to Bloomberg, Wang shared an internal memo soon after joining Meta, announcing a restructuring of the AI team. He divided the work into four separate groups for sharper focus. In his note, he wrote, "Superintelligence is coming, and in order to take it seriously, we need to organise around the key areas that will be critical to reach it — research, product and infra.”
This shows the direction Meta wants to head in, treating superintelligence not as a far-off theory but as a near-term goal. Wang now oversees not just the superintelligence project but also Meta’s broader AI research and product teams.
A 14.3 billion dollar investment
What makes this move stand out is the scale of Meta’s commitment. Mark Zuckerberg personally led the decision to invest in Wang’s startup, and at the same time, hand him the reins of Meta’s future-facing AI mission. The numbers are staggering: 14.3 billion dollars, which translates to about 1.24 lakh crore rupees, for talent and technology that Meta believes will secure its place in the next era of AI.
For context, most AI firms struggle for funding in the billions, while Wang’s journey has brought him into the rare space where one individual and his company are seen as the centrepiece of a global strategy.
The road ahead for Meta Superintelligence Labs
Wang’s new lab will bring together some of the best minds in the industry. Meta has been aggressively hiring and even poaching talent to fill out the ranks. The reorganisation into research, product, and infrastructure is aimed at giving clarity to teams that otherwise get stretched thin across too many projects.
It is still early days, and no one outside the company knows exactly what Meta Superintelligence Labs will deliver. But with a young billionaire leading the charge, and Zuckerberg’s billions backing him, the stakes could not be higher.