Scale AI is cutting 200 employees, about 14% of its staff, and dropping 500 contractors worldwide, Bloomberg reports. The cuts come just a month after Meta snapped up Scale AI’s CEO in a $14.3 billion deal.
Interim CEO Jason Droege told staff the company scaled its core data-labeling business too fast. Scale AI helped AI labs train models with labeled data but will now focus hiring around enterprise and government sales.
The shift follows Meta’s investment. Several of Scale AI’s biggest data customers cut ties after the CEO’s departure. 
Jason Droege stated in a memo obtained by Bloomberg:
Scale AI had too quickly scaled its core data-labeling business
Scale will now staff up around enterprise and government sales units
Like other AI startups reverse acqui-hired by tech giants, Scale AI is pivoting away from the business that made it known. The company is betting on a new path after losing some major clients.
