Alexandr Wang cofounded Scale AI. He's about to become a very expensive hire at Meta.

Alexandr Wang co-founded Scale AI at 19. Thanks to the rapid growth of the San Francisco data-labeling company, he was a billionaire at 24. Now 28, he’s a controversial figure, facing wage theft lawsuits from workers and pontificating in Washington about the existential stakes of artificial intelligence.

Alexandr Wang dropped out of MIT to co-found Scale and was quickly lauded as one of Silicon Valley's most promising entrepreneurs, raising funding from blue-chip venture capital firms and achieving billionaire status in his 20s.

Facebook owner Meta's $14.8 billion (A$22.8 billion) investment in Scale AI and hiring of the data-labeling startup's chief executive will test how the Trump administration views so-called 'acquihire' deals,

Meta lures 28-year-old Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang to lead new superintelligence unit after a $14.3B investment in his company

Scale said late on Thursday that the deal values it at $29 billion and its CEO Alexandr Wang will join Meta to play a prominent role in the Facebook owner's AI strategy.

The deal values data-labeling startup Scale AI at $29 billion, as Meta aims to catch up with rivals such as OpenAI and Google.