Pentagon Hands Meta-Backed Scale AI $500 Million Contract, 5 Times Last Year’s Deal
Pentagon Hands Meta-Backed Scale AI $500 Million Contract, 5 Times Last Year’s Deal
Publish Date: 2026-05-06 17:55:00
Source Domain: www.forbes.com
Topline
The Pentagon awarded Scale AI—which Meta owns 49% of—a $500 million contract to help analyze data and support decision-making, marking a fivefold increase from the $100 million deal the startup signed in September 2025, the company announced Wednesday.
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 18: (L-R) CEO of Scale A.I. Alexandr Wang, American Enterprise Institute fellow Klon Kitchen and Global A.I. ethicist at DataRobot Dr. Haniyeh Mahmoudian testify during a hearing about artificial intelligence on Capitol Hill. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Key Facts
The new contract is with the Pentagon’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office and ranks among the larger deals the Pentagon has signed with an AI startup, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the contract.
The startup, founded by 29-year-old billionaire Alexandr Wang, is also reportedly working on the Defense Innovation Unit’s program to integrate AI into military planning and operations along with Anduril and Microsoft, as well as on President Donald Trump’s proposed missile defense shield Golden Dome.
In May, the Pentagon announced agreements with OpenAI, Alphabet, Nvidia, SpaceX, Microsoft, Amazon and Reflection for expanded use of advanced AI tools in military operations.
Meta took a 49% stake in Scale AI last year and brought on Wang as the chief AI officer.
Key Background
The Scale AI deal is the latest in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s push to fast-track AI adoption across the department. In a January strategy memo, Hegseth laid out plans to expand the use of AI tools and strip away what he described as bureaucratic barriers slowing the adoption of new technology. Scale AI, founded in 2016, built its business on data labeling—paying contract workers to label images and text used to train AI models—for customers including OpenAI, Google, Microsoft and Meta, before pivoting more aggressively into defense work. Meta’s $14.3 billion investment last year for a 49% stake…
