Meta’s $10B bet on Scale AI highlights a trend: CVCs now account for nearly 75% of AI VC investment - PitchBook
Meta is negotiating a $10 billion investment in data labeling startup Scale AI, exemplifying a broader trend where corporate venture capital now accounts for nearly 75% of AI VC investment by value despite fewer deals, as big tech firms concentrate large funding rounds on select AI startups like Scale AI, Anthropic, and Together AI to secure leadership in the AI boom.
Corporates are pulling back on the number of deals they’re doing but going all in on the startups they are backing.
Social media giant Meta is in talks to invest around $10 billion into the data labeling startup Scale AI, according to Bloomberg. This would be the latest significant corporate venture check going into an AI startup.
Corporate participation in AI funding rounds has been growing, increasing from 54.3% of all US VC AI deals in terms of transaction value in 2022 to 74.7% so far this year, according to PitchBook data. Big tech companies are placing their bets on the select AI companies they believe will win the current boom.
Overall, the number of corporate investments into AI startups dropped 81% from its peak of 2,767 deals in 2021 to only 515 so far this year. However, total deal value has already hit $66.9 billion, surpassing 2022 and 2023 and on track to beat 2024.
Meta is far from Scale AI’s first corporate backer: Intel Capital, Nvidia, Amazon, AMD Ventures, and several others participated in its $1 billion Series F round in May 2024 at a $13.8 billion valuation.
Founded in 2016, Scale AI helps companies train large language models by providing data labeling services. The startup’s clients include OpenAI, Microsoft, and Cisco. Meta and Scale AI started working together last year, announcing in November 2024 joint work on Defense Llama, a specialized LLM tailored for the US government.
Other AI companies that have raised from big tech companies include Anthropic, which raised a $3.5 billion Series E in May from backers like Cisco and Salesforce; and Together AI, which had Salesforce among investors for its $305 million Series B in February.
OpenAI also received $10 billion in commitments from Microsoft in 2023.