Meta’s multibillion-dollar deal with Scale AI was hailed as a breakthrough in June, when the two companies announced a $14.3 billion partnership and the launch of Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL). Alexandr Wang, Scale’s CEO, alongside senior staff, joined Meta to drive this ambitious initiative. But only months later, tensions are surfacing.

Ruben Mayer, who previously served as Scale AI’s SVP of GenAI Product and Operations, has already departed. Sources told TechCrunch Mayer was managing data-related operations but had little involvement in TBD Labs, Meta’s core AI division. Mayer, however, denied that description, stating he worked directly with the lab from the beginning and stepped away purely for personal reasons.

At the same time, TBD Labs is diversifying its data-labeling partners. Despite the huge financial commitment to Scale AI, the lab is leaning more on competitors such as Surge and Mercor, which researchers reportedly view as producing better datasets than Scale.