Scale AI's Jason Droege: We're here and we're growing
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Scale AI faced questions about its future after Meta poached its star founder and CEO in June, but interim CEO Jason Droege sought to make the case at Axios AI+ DC Summit that it's still a growing, thriving AI firm.
Why it matters: Droege, in his first public interview since taking Scale's helm, told Axios' Maria Curi on Wednesday that the company is moving beyond its data-labeling business into the AI applications and services realm, with a focus on government.
Catch up quick: Meta took a 49% stake in Scale in June in a $14 billion deal, at the same time that it hired Scale founder and CEO Alexandr Wang, who became Meta's chief AI officer.
- Scale then named Droege, its chief strategy officer, as its interim CEO.
- A round of layoffs in July, along with reports that big partners were pulling back from working with the company, further spread the sense that Scale was in turmoil.
Droege paints a positive picture of the company today, on the heels of the announcement of a $100 million-ceiling Defense Department deal. That followed an earlier $99 million deal with the U.S. Army.
- Each of Scale's main revenue streams is now a "multi-hundred-million dollar business," Droege said, with the newer applications business bringing in $200-$300 million and the more mature data business "very, very large."
- "We've grown every single month since the deal happened," he said.
Droege said a lot of business leaders think they can just "drop a model in," get fast results and start cutting jobs.
- "That's preposterous" right now, he said.
Government work isn't Scale's only growth area, Droege said.
- He cited a health care project the company is developing that aims to get expert advice to doctors who are treating patients with rare conditions.
The bottom line: Droege said what will keep Scale going is its "agility" — citing its many transformations over the years, from an autonomous vehicle data labeling company to a data provider for generative AI model makers to its current incarnation.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that it's Scale's application business (not each of its revenue streams) that Droege said brings in $200-$300 million, and that he called the more mature data business "very, very large."
