In June, Meta finalized a $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI, bringing CEO Alexandr Wang and several of the startup’s leaders to establish Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL). Despite this bold move, the alliance is already showing cracks.

Two people familiar with the situation confirmed that Ruben Mayer — Scale AI’s former Senior VP of GenAI Product and Operations — exited Meta after just two months. Mayer, who spent years at Scale, was responsible for AI data teams but, according to sources, was not directly part of TBD Labs. Mayer rejected this version of events, insisting his role was tied to the core lab from the beginning and emphasizing that his exit was due to personal matters.

In addition, Meta’s relationship with Scale AI is evolving. Instead of exclusively leveraging Scale’s services, TBD Labs has turned to rival vendors like Surge and Mercor. Even with billions invested, researchers reportedly consider Scale’s data less reliable, making this partnership more complex than anticipated.