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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

#341

Post by mrweasel »

999900000999 wrote: post #268
mrweasel wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bringing up Oculus and VR is quite fitting, because I think it's the same problem. Meta is attempting to find their next business, but like with social media they don't really have a plan. It worked out well with Facebook and some of the purchases surrounding social media, but it was never a clear path to profit, so they slapped ads on it. Why does Meta want VR to work? Create the Meta-verse? We're back at why, what…

Just a thought, but VR/AR is constantly recording video and audio. It wouldn't surprise me if at least some of that data is being piped back to Meta. Data that can latter be used by LLMs to train on. Even if this isn't enabled on consumer models, on the corporate side it can make sense. Say you're a risk adjuster for a factory. Walk around with your VR headset. In real time MetaOshaHelper can identify issues, you can…

> In real time MetaOshaHelper can identify issues

I sort of doubt that most business would want that. Sorry to latch on to one specific thing in an interesting comment. But just imagine having AI tracking in the workplace, e.g. OSHA violations, violations of building code and workplace regulations in general. You'd have shitty manufactures, builders, trucking companies, kitchens, warehouses and everything in between begging you to stop.

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

#342

Post by pixl97 »

unshavedyak wrote: post #329
delusional wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but Meta would be able to kick the board and find another one more willing to accept their proposal as the best for shareholders.

Power struggles like this are weird to me. Is kicking the board likely to succeed at 49%? If so it feels like the control percentage isn't the primary factor in actual control.

You only need to convince 2% of the other stakeholders to get your way.

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

#343

Post by ahmed_ssh »

I have been working at Scale for 2yrs now. Their data is shit, the majority of the contributions live in the 3rd world and all of them use gpt and other big models. I'm eagerly waiting for the AI hype to disappear to see all those corporates lose their money.

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

#344

Post by michaelrwolfe1 »

Bjorkbat wrote: post #111
laborcontract wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Fair enough. If you aren't willing to give your friend $14 billion to join your company so you can hang out more, then are you two really friends?

Wang didn't get $14b, he only owns about 15% of Scale. We also don't know how much he sold. He could have sold all of his stock (netting him around $4.5b), none, or something in the middle.

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

#345

Post by npinsker »

andytratt wrote: post #177
DebtDeflation wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a wild story for sure. Dropped out of MIT after freshman year and starts Scale to do data labeling. Three years later Scale has a $1B valuation and two years after that Wang is the world's youngest billionaire. Nine years after Scale's founding they're still doing less than $1B in annual revenue. Yet Meta is doing a $14B acquihire. There's definitely more than meets the eye. I suspect it involves multiple world…

i don't know Alex directly that well but i believe his "freshman year" skipped all GIRs and was spent polishing off the most advanced graduate courses in CS theory (18.404), machine learning (6.867), algorithms (6.854), etc. so basically he did MIT at the PhD level in 1 year. As a classmate myself who did it in 3, at a high level too (and I think Varun - of Windsurf - completed his undergrad in 3 years also)... Wang'…

That courseload is completely unremarkable for a first-year with experience in competitive programming (like Wang had). I know a dozen people who did the same.

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

#346

Post by steve_adams_86 »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #140
steve_adams_86 wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn’t this monopolistic?

Which is a primary reason Meta took a 49% stake in Scale vs buying them outright.

Ah, my mistake. I thought the arrangement was allowing for more control over access to the company. I should pay closer attention.

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

#348

Post by jazzyjackson »

MichaelZuo wrote: post #234
tyre wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Dropped out of MIT after freshman year and starts Scale to do data labeling I was in their YC batch, so two notes: 1. He didn't start it himself 2. They weren't doing data labeling when they entered YC. They pivoted to this.

There are some stranger rumors too floating around.

This is America, if you have tea, spill it!

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

#349

Post by evanelias »

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF wrote: post #305
evanelias wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get that people hate Oracle for a variety of reasons, but this is just such a ridiculous assertion. They've been one of the largest tech companies for multiple decades. Do you honestly believe that a majority of their revenue came from legal settlements from suing their own customers, at any time in their history? Do you have a citation for this claim? I mean if the company is as absurdly litigious as you're saying…

I'd guess it's something to do with Oracle's licensing policies. My understanding is they'd audit businesses who used their software and bill them an additional fee for violations. Maybe it's not strictly legal settlements but it's plausible that they made more money from these fees than from their regular fees at some point and even ongoing today. (That also lines up with jokes I've heard about them hiring more lawy…

No, I do not believe it is even remotely plausible that they have ever made a majority of their revenue from licensing violation fees, especially today, when their total annual revenue is over $57 billion.

Oracle is an enormous company. I'm in my 40s, and literally every non-startup I've worked for in my career has been an Oracle customer, across multiple product lines. They're a 48-year-old company with more than 150,000 employees.

To be absolutely clear, I'm not expressing an opinion here on Oracle or its licensing and auditing practices. I'm just responding to the wild claims about revenue from lawsuits or license violations. Oracle stock has been publicly-traded for nearly four decades, so there's plenty of data available from their earnings statements. If these claims were even remotely based in reality, it would be easy to cite a source.

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

#350

Post by 999900000999 »

mrweasel wrote: post #341
999900000999 wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just a thought, but VR/AR is constantly recording video and audio. It wouldn't surprise me if at least some of that data is being piped back to Meta. Data that can latter be used by LLMs to train on. Even if this isn't enabled on consumer models, on the corporate side it can make sense. Say you're a risk adjuster for a factory. Walk around with your VR headset. In real time MetaOshaHelper can identify issues, you can…

> In real time MetaOshaHelper can identify issues I sort of doubt that most business would want that. Sorry to latch on to one specific thing in an interesting comment. But just imagine having AI tracking in the workplace, e.g. OSHA violations, violations of building code and workplace regulations in general. You'd have shitty manufactures, builders, trucking companies, kitchens, warehouses and everything in between…

Does spell check make writing a book harder?

Occasionally you're going to ignore things that get flagged, but I would love an AI to say oh by the way that machine over there isn't latched on correctly and can fall over if not corrected.

It's cheaper than paying workers comp.

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