But who is Wang, what did he study, and how did he build a major artificial intelligence company at such a young age? Meta’s $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI has once again put the company’s young founder, Alexandr Wang, in the spotlight.
The company provides data and tools that help businesses develop and train artificial intelligence systems. His parents were physicists who worked on weapons programmes for the US military. He later joined the *Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to study computer science and mathematics. However, he did not complete his degree. His decision came at a time when artificial intelligence was developing rapidly and companies needed large amounts of high-quality data to train AI systems. The company initially focused on providing data-labeling services for companies developing AI and machine-learning systems. As demand for AI increased, Scale AI expanded its work with major technology companies and organisations. Its technology has been used for tasks such as preparing data needed to train AI models. The company eventually became one of the major names in the AI industry, making Wang one of the youngest technology entrepreneurs to build a billion-dollar company. The investment also brought Wang to Meta, where he took a senior role focused on the company’s artificial intelligence efforts. His journey also shows why computer science, mathematics, AI and data skills are becoming increasingly important areas for students interested in technology careers.
Because his path was different from the usual route of completing college and then starting a career, for students, Wang’s story stands out. Wang co-founded Scale AI in 2016, when he was 19. Wang was born in 1997 in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and grew up in a family with a strong science and technology background. At 19, Wang left MIT to focus on building Scale AI. Wang co-founded Scale AI with Lucy Guo in 2016. In June 2025, Meta agreed to invest about $14.3 billion in Scale AI for a 49 per cent stake in the company. The deal valued Scale AI at roughly $29 billion. He left MIT at 19, built a company around an emerging technology and eventually became part of Meta’s push to develop advanced AI.
