Why Meta is willing to pay billions for a data labeller

(Image: Getty)

Wed, 18 Jun 2025

When Facebook paid US$20 billion (NZ$33b) collectively to buy Instagram and WhatsApp in the 2010s, it was effectively neutralising fast-growing competitors in photo-sharing and messaging, respectively, a move that now sees it fighting the Federal Trade Commission in a US court.With its planned acquisition of San Francisco-based Scale AI, the company now known as Meta is taking a different approach, settling for a minority stake rather than outright ownership. Meta plans to buy a 49% stake in Scale AI, a deal valued at approximately US$14b...

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