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Meta invests $14.3B in Scale AI to kick-start superintelligence lab

nytimes.com

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Re: Meta invests $14.3B in Scale AI to kick-start superintelligence lab

#101

Post by tomrod »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #60
tomrod wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd trust Zuck if I had a signed, airtight agreement for a large amount of money he paid into an escrow account for something I owned or was transferring ownership. He's very close to peak homo economicus. (EDIT: this next point is wrong, the oral history I heard referred to Winklevoss pops, not Zuckerberg, and I misremembered) Which makes sense, given his father is deep in actuarial services.

Zuckerberg’s dad is/was a dentist. Not that the claim makes any sense even if he were an actuary.

Oh man, talk about getting my wires crossed. The Winklevoss' twins dad is the actuary!

Re: Meta invests $14.3B in Scale AI to kick-start superintelligence lab

#102

Post by jstummbillig »

strict9 wrote: post #56
Workaccount2 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of all the tech companies, Meta is the most ruthless and shameless. You'd have to be a total fool to trust Zuck, especially Zuck who put billions into AR for not much return and now billions into AI to create lackluster lagging models.

Off base when considering the likes of Palantir and many others. Not a fan of the person or many of Meta's business practices. But Meta has given a lot back with Llama and PyTorch, among many other open source contributions. Which others in the space are not doing.

First, the only model creators ones who have not "given back" in the way you mean, are OpenAI and Anthropic, everyone else has at least some models in the open.

Second, I would argue that it's strange how we are discounting the contribution of OpenAI and Anthropic, because being the first to show that something valuable is possible actually counts for quite a lot in my book. Competition and open-source copies are nice, but the value add attribution in ai labs feels really strange at times.

What Meta has given, so far, are decent copies, which mostly serve their own needs and are making it harder for the above companies (who actually have to generate revenue through AI efforts, because it's all they do) to exist. And that's fine and all, Meta can do what they want to the degree the law permits, but I have a hard time understanding them as the good guys in the AI space, unless I squint very heavily.

Re: Meta invests $14.3B in Scale AI to kick-start superintelligence lab

#103

Post by krosaen »

laborcontract wrote: post #98
krosaen wrote: post #92

Anyone know what scale does these days beyond labeling tools that would make them this interesting to Meta? Data labeling tools seem more of a traditional software application and not much to do with AI models themselves that would be somewhat easily replicated, but guessing my impression is out of date. Also now apparently their CEO is leaving [1], so the idea that they were super impressed with him doesn't seem to…

This is by all indications the world's most expensive acquihire of a single person. Reporting has been that Zuckerberg has seen Wang as a confidant of sorts, and has proposed a vision of AI that's said to be non consensus.

but did you see that now Wang is leaving as part of this?

Re: Meta invests $14.3B in Scale AI to kick-start superintelligence lab

#104

Post by laborcontract »

akudha wrote: post #84
paxys wrote: post #79

Spending $15B to hire a 28 year old to build you some AI is certainly a move. You can call Zuck many things, but "afraid to take risks" isn't one of them.

What is the big risk here? He has the cash to burn and he has full control of his position. Nothing will happen to him if he wastes a few Billions. He is not some poor single mom who has to decide between fixing her car and paying for kid’s Christmas presents

The risk here is that you've now put a person with no track record of success outside of being good at sales in charge of your AI efforts. You're betting that he's going to be the one to attract talent.

The right leadership might be able to get talent to work for a discount. The wrong one would lead to talent not coming at all.

Re: Meta invests $14.3B in Scale AI to kick-start superintelligence lab

#106

Post by disgruntledphd2 »

paxys wrote: post #89
akudha wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the big risk here? He has the cash to burn and he has full control of his position. Nothing will happen to him if he wastes a few Billions. He is not some poor single mom who has to decide between fixing her car and paying for kid’s Christmas presents

Spending $15B is a risk. Yes they have the money, but we're talking a quarter of Meta's annual income. That's not nothing. And money concerns aside, Meta needs to be a major player in AI. If they have made the wrong bet with Scale AI & Wang then the company will suffer in the long term.

It's surely mostly a stock deal though, right?

So they won't take the same hit to free cash flow that they might otherwise do.

Still a lot of money and I'm not sure it's worth it. Might be more like Whatsapp than Instagram, tbh.

Re: Meta invests $14.3B in Scale AI to kick-start superintelligence lab

#107

Post by vonneumannstan »

krosaen wrote: post #92

Anyone know what scale does these days beyond labeling tools that would make them this interesting to Meta? Data labeling tools seem more of a traditional software application and not much to do with AI models themselves that would be somewhat easily replicated, but guessing my impression is out of date. Also now apparently their CEO is leaving [1], so the idea that they were super impressed with him doesn't seem to…

I've seen rumours that he is leaking what the other labs are using Scale for which may let Meta catch up...

Re: Meta invests $14.3B in Scale AI to kick-start superintelligence lab

#108

Post by kubb »

deviation wrote: post #81

Reminds me of "Don't dig for the gold, sell the shovels". Could also be read: > Meta spends 10% of last year's revenue to acquire 49% of a top AI data company and poach their leadership, to ensure they are a key player in what could be a ~5-trillion dollar industry by 2033. Meta has a history of this. Acquiring Oculus (and leaning in on VR), Ray-Ban partnership (and leaning in on AR)... etc. These all just seem like…

Remember the Metaverse delusion?

People forgot about that as if Zuck wasn't walking around telling us we'd hang out with friends in virtual spaces, and do activities with goggles on.

I really have got to think about that every time people act like these overvalued companies with unlimited funds know what they're doing.

Re: Meta invests $14.3B in Scale AI to kick-start superintelligence lab

#110

Post by paxys »

krosaen wrote: post #92

Anyone know what scale does these days beyond labeling tools that would make them this interesting to Meta? Data labeling tools seem more of a traditional software application and not much to do with AI models themselves that would be somewhat easily replicated, but guessing my impression is out of date. Also now apparently their CEO is leaving [1], so the idea that they were super impressed with him doesn't seem to…

I doubt Scale is interesting by itself. This is all about Alexandr Wang. Guy is in his mid 20s and has somehow worked his way up in Silicon Valley to the same stature as CEOs of multi trillion dollar companies. Got a front row seat at Trump's inaugration. Advises the DoD. Routinely rubs shoulders with world leaders. I can't say whether there's actual substance or not, by clearly Zuck sees something in him (probably a bit of himself).
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