Google Cloud COO Francis deSouza will replace interim CEO Jason Droege as Scale AI expands from data labeling into custom AI applications, following Meta’s $14.3 billion investment and Alexandr Wang’s move to Meta.
Scale AI appointed Google Cloud COO Francis deSouza as chief executive officer effective August 10, formalizing a leadership transition that follows co-founder Alexandr Wang’s departure to become chief AI officer at Meta Platforms after Meta’s $14.3 billion investment in the company. DeSouza will replace interim CEO Jason Droege, who has led Scale AI since June 2025 and will remain during the transition. The appointment comes as Scale AI pushes beyond its core data-labeling and model-evaluation business into custom AI applications for enterprise and government customers. The company said its applications business is on track to surpass its legacy data business within 18 months, and a spokesperson told The Verge that this newer segment is projected to generate more than $1 billion in 2026 revenue. Founded by Wang, Scale AI built its reputation supplying training data and human evaluations for frontier AI models, including through what it calls a Generative AI Data Engine. The company now serves customers including the U.S. Department of Defense, BP and the Mayo Clinic, and has expanded work with U.S. and international governments. Earlier reports described Meta’s stake as 49% and valued at $15 billion; Axios reported the investment at $14.3 billion.