--- alias: - Scale AI - Scale AI, Inc. - Scale AI Inc. - Scale.com - Remotasks - Outlier AI - Smart Ecosystem category: Private Organization created: 2026-10-01 location: San Francisco, California relations: - fn: 1 reverse: true role: founder start: 2016 type: founded with: '[[Alexandr Wang]]' - end: 2025-06-12 fn: 2 reverse: true role: chief executive start: 2016 type: head_of with: '[[Alexandr Wang]]' - fn: 25 reverse: true role: director; chairman of the board as of 2026-07-30 type: director_of with: '[[Alexandr Wang]]' - end: 2026-08-10 fn: 2 reverse: true role: interim chief executive start: 2025-06-12 type: head_of with: '[[Jason Droege]]' - fn: 25 reverse: true role: chief executive start: 2026-08-10 type: head_of with: '[[Francis deSouza]]' - fn: 17 reverse: true role: managing director start: 2021-03 type: employed_by with: '[[Michael Kratsios]]' - fn: 3 reverse: true role: non-voting minority stake; 13.79 billion dollars of the consideration carried under the measurement alternative start: 2025-06 type: funded with: '[[Meta Platforms]]' - fn: 4 reverse: true role: existing investor named in the Series F announcement of 2024-05-21 type: funded with: '[[Y Combinator]]' - fn: 4 reverse: true role: lead investor, Series F, 2024 type: funded with: '[[Accel]]' - fn: 4 reverse: true role: existing investor named in the Series F announcement of 2024-05-21 type: funded with: '[[Founders Fund]]' - end: 2024-09-14 fn: 7 role: contract W911QX20C0051, 105,550,316.38 dollars obligated start: 2020-09-29 type: contractor_to with: '[[U.S. Army]]' - fn: 8 role: ISR machine learning, Donovan and E-4C contracts start: 2021-03-15 type: contractor_to with: '[[U.S. Air Force]]' - fn: 8 role: SHIELD indefinite-delivery contract start: 2025-12-29 type: contractor_to with: '[[Missile Defense Agency]]' - fn: 10 role: Thunderforge prototype contract start: 2025-03-05 type: contractor_to with: '[[Defense Innovation Unit]]' - fn: 11 role: production other transaction agreement, ceiling 100 million dollars, raised to 500 million dollars on 2026-05-06 start: 2025-09-17 type: contractor_to with: '[[Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office]]' - fn: 24 role: five-year strategic partnership start: 2025-02-24 type: contractor_to with: '[[Qatar Ministry of Communications and Information Technology]]' - end: 2025-05 fn: 19 reverse: true role: Fair Labor Standards Act investigation, dropped start: 2024-08 type: investigated with: '[[Department of Labor]]' - end: 2023 fn: 13 reverse: true role: registered lobbyist start: 2022-02-01 type: represented with: '[[The Halcrow Group]]' - end: 2023 fn: 13 reverse: true role: registered lobbyist start: 2022-06-01 type: represented with: '[[Ballard Partners]]' - fn: 13 reverse: true role: registered lobbyist start: 2023-10-11 type: represented with: '[[Cornerstone Government Affairs]]' - end: 2026-06-30 fn: 13 reverse: true role: registered lobbyist, Jason Miller start: 2025-08-15 type: represented with: '[[SHW Partners]]' - fn: 13 reverse: true role: registered lobbyist start: 2025-08-19 type: represented with: '[[Mehlman Consulting]]' - fn: 13 reverse: true role: registered lobbyist, former House Armed Services staff start: 2025-08-01 type: represented with: '[[The VM Group]]' start: 2016 summary: San Francisco AI data company founded in 2016 by Alexandr Wang, holder of 105.6 million dollars in Army obligations, whose Labor Department inquiry was dropped in 2025 and in which Meta bought a non-voting stake. tags: - Organization - ScaleAI - ArtificialIntelligence - DataLabeling - DefenseContracting - Lobbying - LaborPractices - Meta - RevolvingDoor - PeterThiel updated: 2026-10-01 --- Scale AI, Inc. is a [San Francisco](/places/san-francisco/) company that supplies labeled data, model evaluation and software for artificial intelligence. Alexandr Wang told the House Armed Services Committee in 2023 that "In 2016, I founded Scale with a mission to accelerate the development of AI," and that the company had worked with General Motors, Toyota, Meta, Microsoft and [OpenAI](/organizations/openai/) and with "the U.S. Department of Defense's CDAO [Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office], the U.S. Army, and the U.S. Air Force."[^1] Its federal customers include the [U.S. Army](/organizations/us-army/), the [U.S. Air Force](/organizations/us-air-force/), the Defense Logistics Agency, the Missile Defense Agency, the Defense Innovation Unit and the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO). In June 2025 Meta acquired a non-voting minority of its equity, and Wang joined Meta.[^2][^3] ### Founding and Investors Wang wrote in the Series F announcement that "In 2016, I was studying AI at MIT" and that he founded Scale to supply the data pillar of artificial intelligence. On May 21, 2024, Scale announced a financing of 1 billion dollars at a valuation of 13.8 billion dollars, a mix of primary and secondary shares, led by existing investor Accel with participation from [Y Combinator](/organizations/y-combinator/), Nat Friedman, Index Ventures, [Founders Fund](/organizations/founders-fund/), Coatue, Thrive Capital, Spark Capital, Nvidia, Tiger Global Management, Greenoaks and Wellington Management. The new investors named were Cisco Investments, DFJ Growth, Intel Capital, ServiceNow Ventures, AMD Ventures, WCM, Amazon, Elad Gil, Meta and Qualcomm Ventures. The announcement states that Scale's "Public Sector Data Engine has powered many major AI programs within the US Department of Defense."[^4] Scale's certificates of interested entities in federal court list Index Ventures VIII (Jersey), L.P., Accel-XII L.P. and Wang (June 2025), and, after the Meta investment, Meta Platforms, Inc. (September 2025).[^5][^6] Wang told the subcommittee that "I grew up in the shadow of the Los Alamos National Lab. My parents were physicists and worked on the technology that defined the last era of warfare, the atomic bomb," and that four years earlier he had gone "on an investor trip to China that was both enlightening and unsettling."[^1] The laboratory is at [Los Alamos](/places/los-alamos/), [New Mexico](/places/new-mexico/). ### Army and Air Force Contracts The federal spending database USAspending.gov lists contract W911QX20C0051, awarded to Scale AI, Inc. on September 29, 2020 by the Army contracting office at Adelphi, Maryland (W6QK ACC-APG Adelphi), under solicitation W911NF17S0003, a broad agency announcement of the Army Research Laboratory, using basic research procedures. It covers "research, development, design, configuration, implementation, and testing of machine learning algorithm in accordance with the tasks outlined in their proposal." Its period of performance ran to September 14, 2024; obligations total 105,550,316.38 dollars against a value with all options of 110,230,803.17 dollars. The initial action obligated 16,472,937.20 dollars. Modification P00001 of October 19, 2021 is described as "adding approved DD254 to Scale AI BAA contract," the DD254 being the Department of Defense contract security classification specification. Later modifications obligated 20,857,300.44 dollars (November 16, 2021, in a modification that also incorporated the clause implementing Executive Order 14042), 17,100,278.01 dollars (July 20, 2022, "exercise CLIN 3 option"), 3,465,110.56 dollars (September 6, 2022, "additional SIPR seats on Scale AI labeling BAA," SIPR being the Pentagon's classified network), 20,325,220.12 dollars (January 13, 2023, "update DD254, exercise option"), 1,440,764 dollars (July 13, 2023), 16,250,601.28 dollars (February 1, 2024, a ceiling increase) and three funding actions in 2024 of 1,512,804.13, 7,013,890.25 and 1,111,410.39 dollars.[^7] The same database lists Air Force contract FA864921P0899, 749,942 dollars from March 15, 2021, for "accelerating USAF artificial intelligence/machine learning development for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance processing, exploitation, and dissemination"; Air Force contracts FA714622CB007 (945,000 dollars, February 28, 2022, "AI/ML support") and FA714622CB024 (1,800,000 dollars, July 25, 2022 to February 28, 2024, "Scale follow on"); a blanket purchase agreement for the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center test and evaluation program, W52P1J22A0073, signed January 28, 2022, with a value of 249,000,000 dollars and an ordering period to January 27, 2027; a Defense Logistics Agency indefinite-delivery contract, SP470124D0004, of September 27, 2024, under which task orders of 2,473,818 dollars and 2,511,830 dollars followed; Air Force awards for the Donovan platform, FA875125P0002 ("Tradewinds Donovan," 1,499,999.92 dollars, February 24, 2025) and FA873025PB007 ("Project Zion," 1,000,000 dollars, March 4, 2025); an Army indefinite-delivery contract, W911QX25DA011, signed August 21, 2025, with a value of 99,490,982.50 dollars for artificial intelligence support to the Army Research Laboratory through August 2030 and a task order of 2,882,872 dollars; an Air Force contract, FA875126C0001, for 5,064,551 dollars from February 27, 2026 for agentic artificial intelligence for the E-4C Survivable Airborne Operations Center; and a Missile Defense Agency indefinite-delivery contract, HQ085926DF526, under its Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) program, signed December 19, 2025 with a recorded value of 151,000,000,000 dollars and a performance period to December 2035, with an initial order of 500 dollars.[^8] ### Testimony Before Congress On July 18, 2023, Wang testified before the Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation of the House Armed Services Committee, chaired by Mike Gallagher with [Ro Khanna](/people/ro-khanna/) as ranking member and Matt Gaetz among its members, at a hearing titled "Man and Machine: Artificial Intelligence on the Battlefield." He said that "The country that is able to most rapidly and effectively integrate new technology into warfighting wins," that Scale had "partnered with DIU [Defense Innovation Unit] to develop a data engine that will support the Army's Robotic Combat Vehicle program," and that its Donovan platform was "being utilized right now in military planning exercises." Asked about procurement, he named the CDAO's Tradewinds program as "one of the fastest procurement methods" for new technology in the Department of Defense.[^1] On October 17, 2024, Wang wrote to [Chuck Schumer](/people/chuck-schumer/), Mitch McConnell, Mike Johnson and Hakeem Jeffries asking that legislation before the end of the year authorize the [AI Safety Institute](/organizations/us-ai-safety-institute/), require federal agencies to make their data ready for artificial intelligence, and define "developers" and "deployers," as Matt Bracken of FedScoop reported.[^9] ### Defense Innovation Unit and CDAO Agreements Jon Harper of DefenseScoop reported on March 5, 2025 that the Defense Innovation Unit had announced a prototype contract to Scale for Thunderforge, an AI-assisted planning and wargaming capability incorporating Scale's agentic applications, [Anduril Industries](/organizations/anduril-industries/)'s Lattice software platform and Microsoft's large language model technology, with the Indo-Pacific Command and European Command first in line to receive it.[^10] On September 17, 2025, Scale announced a five-year enterprise agreement with the CDAO with a ceiling of 100 million dollars, structured as an other transaction authority agreement, following "two and a half years" of prototype agreements, and stated that its platforms would be available "on networks up to Top Secret/SCI."[^11] On May 6, 2026, Scale announced that the CDAO, which it described as part of the "U.S. Department of War," had raised the ceiling to 500 million dollars, that components of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps and defense agencies were ordering under it, and that its annotators at its AI center in St. Louis were trained to label electro-optical, infrared and synthetic aperture radar imagery for defense programs.[^12] ### Lobbying Scale AI, Inc. registered as its own lobbyist on June 8, 2021, on the National Defense Authorization Act, naming Jason Schmid, who lists service as professional staff of the House Armed Services Committee. Expenses reported on its own filings were 340,000 dollars for 2021, 850,000 dollars for 2022, 670,000 dollars for 2023, 710,000 dollars for 2024, 1,180,000 dollars for 2025 and 1,040,000 dollars for the first half of 2026. The report for the first quarter of 2023 lists the Department of Defense and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency among the entities contacted and covers artificial intelligence programs in the defense and intelligence authorization acts. Its later in-house lobbyists include Max Fenkell, Alexander Davis, Jonathan Van Buren, formerly legislative director to Representative Trey Hollingsworth, and Ariel Marshall, who lists service as chief of staff to the Under Secretary for Science and Innovation at the Department of Energy from 2023 to 2025. The report for the second quarter of 2025 lists the White House Office among the entities contacted and adds "Issues related to the AI workforce"; the reports for 2026 add an energy issue labeled "Genesis Mission," with the Department of Energy contacted.[^13] Outside registrants for Scale have been The Halcrow Group (February 1, 2022 to the third quarter of 2023; Stephanie Halcrow, formerly professional staff of the House Armed Services Committee; 50,000 dollars per quarter), Ballard Partners (June 1, 2022 to the first quarter of 2023; Brian Ballard and Daniel McFaul, formerly chief of staff to Representatives Jeff Miller and Matt Gaetz; 40,000 dollars per quarter), Cornerstone Government Affairs (October 11, 2023; 20,000 dollars for each of the last two quarters of 2023 and 60,000 dollars per quarter since), SHW Partners LLC (August 15, 2025 to June 30, 2026), Mehlman Consulting (August 19, 2025; 40,000, 50,000, 60,000 and 60,000 dollars for the third quarter of 2025 to the second quarter of 2026) and The VM Group, whose registration, posted August 28, 2026, gives a client effective date of August 1, 2025 and names Christopher Vieson, a former staff director of the House Armed Services Committee, and Phil MacNaughton, a former professional staff member of the committee, on "defense technology."[^13] SHW Partners is the firm of Jason Miller, whom Kevin McCauley of O'Dwyer's described as [Donald Trump](/people/donald-trump/)'s chief spokesperson during the 2024 campaign, and which O'Dwyer's reported in May 2025 had been retained by India at 150,000 dollars a month.[^14] Its registration for Scale states the aim "Maintain top-rated positioning as entrepreneurs and enterprise solution-oriented problem solvers in the AI space, including, but not limited to, national defense applications"; its quarterly reports list the [Department of Defense](/organizations/department-of-defense/), the [Office of the Director of National Intelligence](/organizations/director-of-national-intelligence/), the Office of Management and Budget and the White House Office as entities contacted, and report no income from Scale. A termination report posted July 27, 2026 gives June 30, 2026 as the end date.[^13] Cornerstone's lobbyists for Scale have included Heather Molino, formerly staff director of the [House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence](/organizations/house-permanent-select-committee-on-intelligence/); Anthony Lazarski, formerly of the Senate Armed Services Committee staff; William Smith, formerly staff director of the House Appropriations Committee; Andrew Flick, formerly special assistant to the President and senior adviser for congressional affairs and strategic outreach in the Office of the Vice President; and, from the fourth quarter of 2025, Patrick Flood, formerly deputy chief of staff and national security adviser to Representative Don Bacon. Mehlman Consulting is led by Bruce Mehlman, formerly Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Technology Policy. Cornerstone and Mehlman are also registered for [Andreessen Horowitz](/organizations/andreessen-horowitz/), and Vieson and MacNaughton registered for Andreessen Horowitz through Zero Mile Strategies in February 2026.[^13][^15] Wang's own federal contributions on the record of the [Federal Election Commission](/organizations/federal-election-commission/) include 2,900 dollars through WinRed on November 1, 2022, 6,600 dollars through ActBlue and 3,300 dollars twice to the Senate campaign of Martin Heinrich on April 22, 2024, and 1,000 dollars each through ActBlue and to Friends of Maria on June 20, 2024.[^16] ### Michael Kratsios Michael Kratsios listed his career in his questionnaire to the Senate Commerce Committee for his nomination as director of the [Office of Science and Technology Policy](/organizations/office-of-science-and-technology-policy/): associate, chief compliance officer and chief financial officer of Clarium Capital Management (2010 to 2015); chief compliance officer of Thiel Capital and Thiel Macro (2012 to 2014); principal and chief of staff at Thiel Capital (2014 to 2017); deputy assistant to the President and deputy U.S. chief technology officer (2017 to 2019); Chief Technology Officer of the [United States](/places/united-states/) (2019 to 2021); acting Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (2020 to 2021); and "Managing Director, Scale AI, 2021-2025." The same questionnaire lists a consultancy at HySpecIQ in 2021, a seat on the board of managers of Improbable U.S. Defense and National Security in 2022 and board membership of the [Foundation for American Innovation](/organizations/foundation-for-american-innovation/) from 2023 to 2025.[^17] The Army contract W911QX20C0051 was signed on September 29, 2020, during the period he lists as acting Under Secretary for Research and Engineering.[^7][^17] In its conflict-of-interest answers the questionnaire states: "I worked for Scale AI from March 2021 until January 17, 2024. I am no longer an employee and will divest of all of my Scale assets, per my ethics agreement," and "I hold equity and options in Scale AI, bitcoin, and ethereum. I will divest of these assets if confirmed, per my ethics agreement." It also states that "For the past four years, I have worked as the Managing Director of Scale AI," and that he will keep participating in Scale's 401(k) plan and health savings account, to which the company no longer contributes.[^17] Charles Rollet of TechCrunch reported that Kratsios was confirmed in March 2025, and that the office "has no oversight over the Department of Labor."[^18][^19] ### Labor Practices and Litigation Josh Dzieza reported in The Verge in June 2023 that annotators said Scale's Remotasks platform paid relatively well when it arrived in Kenya, "averaging about $5 to $10 per hour depending on the task," that pay for the Kenyan annotators he interviewed had dropped to between 1 and 3 dollars per hour by the beginning of 2023, and that U.S.-based Remotasks annotators generally earned 10 to 25 dollars per hour. A Scale spokesperson said that the company's economists analyze a project's specifics "to ensure fair and competitive compensation"; former employees said pay was set by "a surge-pricing-like mechanism."[^20] Troy Wolverton of the San Francisco Examiner reported on December 12, 2024 that a class action, McKinney v. Scale AI, filed in San Francisco Superior Court by Clarkson Law Firm, alleged that workers who train AI models had been misclassified as contractors and called Scale "the sordid underbelly propping up the generative AI industry"; a company spokesman said that "We are committed to ensuring we are in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations."[^21] Ramey v. Scale AI, Inc., No. 3:24-cv-06999 (N.D. Cal.), a Fair Labor Standards Act action filed on October 6, 2024 against HireArt, Outlier AI and Scale AI, ended with a joint notice of settlement on February 11, 2025 and a stipulation of dismissal on May 12, 2025.[^22] Schuster v. Scale AI, Inc., No. 3:25-cv-00620 (N.D. Cal.), filed on January 17, 2025 by Clarkson Law Firm against Outlier AI, Scale AI and Smart Ecosystem as a class action for negligence and under California's Unfair Competition Law and assigned to Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley, drew a motion to compel arbitration on April 2, 2025 and ended with a notice of voluntary dismissal on August 10, 2026.[^5] ### Department of Labor Investigation Charles Rollet of TechCrunch reported on March 6, 2025 that the Department of Labor was investigating Scale for compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act and that a document showed the investigation active since at least August 2024. A Scale spokesperson said it had been initiated under the previous administration and that regulators had misunderstood Scale's work; a Labor Department spokesperson said the department could not confirm or deny it. Rollet noted that Wang had attended Trump's inauguration in January 2025 and that Kratsios, Scale's former managing director, was then Trump's nominee to lead the Office of Science and Technology Policy.[^23] On May 1, 2025 the department announced that it would no longer enforce, at least for the time being, a rule of the previous administration that made it harder to classify workers as contractors. On May 9, 2025 Rollet reported, citing a source directly familiar with the matter, that the department had dropped the investigation, and that Upwork and HireArt, two of Scale's HR partners also under investigation, had confirmed that they were no longer being investigated; he wrote that it was "not clear exactly why," and that Wang had published a letter urging Trump to "win the AI war." A Scale spokesperson said: "We're pleased with this update."[^19] The stipulation of dismissal in the Ramey case was filed three days later, on May 12, 2025.[^22] ### Qatar On February 24, 2025, at Web Summit Qatar, Qatar's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Mohammed bin Ali Al Mannai, and Wang signed a five-year agreement for Scale to supply AI tools to Qatari government entities.[^24] ### Meta Investment On June 12, 2025, Scale announced "a significant new investment from Meta Platforms, Inc." that "values Scale at over $29 billion." Wang joined Meta "to work on Meta's AI efforts" while remaining on Scale's board; the chief strategy officer, Jason Droege, who had joined in September 2024 after work at Uber Eats and Axon, became interim chief executive; and Scale said it would distribute proceeds "to Scale shareholders and vested equity holders" and that Meta "will hold a minority of Scale's outstanding equity."[^2] Meta's quarterly report for the period ended June 30, 2025 states: "In June 2025, we completed an investment in Scale AI by acquiring a non-voting minority of its outstanding equity. Out of the total consideration, $13.79 billion was included in non-marketable equity investments accounted for under the measurement alternative method, as we do not have significant influence over Scale AI's operations." Meta's annual report for 2025 describes "our minority investments in Scale AI for $13.80 billion."[^3] ### Scale AI v. Mercor On September 3, 2025, Scale sued the company Mercor and a former employee in Scale AI, Inc. v. Mercor.io Corporation, No. 3:25-cv-07402 (N.D. Cal.), under the Defend Trade Secrets Act. The case was reassigned to Judge Charles R. Breyer in December 2025, and Scale filed a stipulation of voluntary dismissal with prejudice on January 2, 2026.[^6] ### Leadership Since 2025 On July 30, 2026, Scale announced that Francis deSouza, formerly chief operating officer and president of security products at Google Cloud and earlier president and chief executive of Illumina, would become chief executive on August 10, 2026, and quoted Wang as "Scale AI Founder and Chairman of the Board."[^25] [^1]: U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Armed Services, Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation. "Man and Machine: Artificial Intelligence on the Battlefield." Hearing of July 18, 2023, H.A.S.C. No. 118-37. Washington: U.S. Government Publishing Office, 2024 (statement and testimony of Alexandr Wang). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-118hhrg53627/pdf/CHRG-118hhrg53627.pdf [^2]: Scale AI. "Scale AI Announces Next Phase of Company's Evolution." June 12, 2025. https://scale.com/blog/scale-ai-announces-next-phase-of-company-evolution [^3]: Meta Platforms, Inc. Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2025, filed July 31, 2025, accession 0001628280-25-036791, note on non-marketable equity investments, https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1326801/000162828025036791/meta-20250630.htm ; Form 10-K for 2025, filed January 29, 2026, accession 0001628280-26-003942, https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1326801/000162828026003942/meta-20251231.htm [^4]: Wang, Alexandr. "Scale's Series F: Expanding the Data Foundry for AI." Scale AI, May 21, 2024. https://scale.com/blog/scale-ai-series-f [^5]: Schuster v. Scale AI, Inc., No. 3:25-cv-00620-JSC (N.D. Cal.), docket entries 1, 10, 17, 20 and 34. CourtListener RECAP. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69556383/schuster-v-scale-ai-inc/ [^6]: Scale AI, Inc. v. Mercor.io Corporation, No. 3:25-cv-07402-CRB (N.D. Cal.), docket entries 1, 2, 9, 27 and 30. CourtListener RECAP. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71260080/scale-ai-inc-v-mercorio-corporation/ [^7]: USAspending.gov, contract award W911QX20C0051, Scale AI, Inc. (UEI DHU2LMKSDQD9), Department of the Army, awarding office W6QK ACC-APG Adelphi, award record and transaction history queried October 1, 2026. https://api.usaspending.gov/api/v2/awards/CONT_AWD_W911QX20C0051_9700_-NONE-_-NONE-/ ; https://api.usaspending.gov/api/v2/transactions/ [^8]: USAspending.gov, spending by award search for recipient "Scale AI," contract and indefinite-delivery award types, queried October 1, 2026, awards FA864921P0899, FA714622CB007, FA714622CB024, W52P1J22A0073, SP470124D0004, SP470124F0355, SP470125F0273, FA875125P0002, FA873025PB007, W911QX25DA011, W911QX25FA054, FA875126C0001, HQ085926DF526 and HQ085926FF523; award detail for W52P1J22A0073, W911QX25DA011 and HQ085926DF526. https://api.usaspending.gov/api/v2/search/spending_by_award/ ; https://api.usaspending.gov/api/v2/awards/CONT_IDV_HQ085926DF526_9700/ [^9]: Bracken, Matt. "Scale AI pushes Congress to take action on AI data, safety issues this year." FedScoop, October 18, 2024. https://fedscoop.com/scale-ai-letter-to-congress-ai-priorities/ [^10]: Harper, Jon. "Combatant commands to get new generative AI tech for operational planning, wargaming." DefenseScoop, March 5, 2025. https://defensescoop.com/2025/03/05/diu-thunderforge-scale-ai-combatant-commands-indopacom-eucom/ [^11]: Harris, Kathryn. "From Prototype to Production: Unlocking Mission-Ready AI." Scale AI, September 17, 2025. https://scale.com/blog/scale-ai-inks-100m-deal [^12]: Harris, Kathryn. "Scale AI Expands Pentagon AI Partnership to $500 Million." Scale AI, May 6, 2026. https://scale.com/blog/scale-ai-pentagon-cdao-500-million-agreement [^13]: U.S. Senate and House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings for client Scale AI, 2021 to 2026, queried October 1, 2026, including Scale AI, Inc. registration posted June 8, 2021 (https://lda.gov/filings/public/filing/492634ce-5527-492a-8c09-5de878d7deb3/print/), first quarter 2023 (https://lda.gov/filings/public/filing/4ba340a2-3d5f-47b1-826d-bb97a8ba7791/print/), second quarter 2025 (https://lda.gov/filings/public/filing/64f301f4-32d8-4066-8567-c9967ec6c02c/print/) and first quarter 2026 (https://lda.gov/filings/public/filing/97e705c2-c0c9-42c6-af69-e20438359e3e/print/); The Halcrow Group registration posted February 1, 2022 (https://lda.gov/filings/public/filing/f0dc743a-821b-4919-9803-218cf6ccd08e/print/); Ballard Partners registration posted June 1, 2022 (https://lda.gov/filings/public/filing/2fd82b31-1158-43f1-b874-11559c5006f2/print/); Cornerstone Government Affairs registration posted October 11, 2023 (https://lda.gov/filings/public/filing/4bed6edb-c81c-41ff-aecb-e50754221888/print/), first quarter 2025 (https://lda.gov/filings/public/filing/baae0f45-0014-4c73-9963-90c90f8393b8/print/) and fourth quarter 2025 (https://lda.gov/filings/public/filing/30e96546-a5d5-459b-ae08-9b3efffca45b/print/); SHW Partners LLC registration posted August 15, 2025 (https://lda.gov/filings/public/filing/ac3e454a-ae49-47b4-9373-bcff86bccc34/print/), third quarter 2025 (https://lda.gov/filings/public/filing/ae29a41a-f65f-4158-9d48-d668fd35dbe1/print/) and termination posted July 27, 2026 (https://lda.gov/filings/public/filing/c6822434-3e5e-4318-bc63-5845b2541934/print/); Mehlman Consulting registration posted August 19, 2025 (https://lda.gov/filings/public/filing/abdd7fa4-d0dd-46f6-a946-a16482f72509/print/); The VM Group registration posted August 28, 2026 (https://lda.gov/filings/public/filing/4087f730-33fc-451b-952d-6e39e960ccd9/print/). https://lda.gov/api/v1/filings/?client_name=Scale+AI [^14]: McCauley, Kevin. "India Retains Firm of Ex-Trump Spokesperson." O'Dwyer's, May 1, 2025. https://www.odwyerpr.com/story/public/22935/2025-05-01/india-retains-firm-ex-trump-spokesperson.html [^15]: Lobbying Disclosure Act filings for client A16Z Capital Management: Zero Mile Strategies registration posted February 10, 2026, https://lda.gov/filings/public/filing/8e23305c-2d46-4df0-a09b-afa9586f12be/print/ ; Mehlman Consulting registration posted May 9, 2023, https://lda.gov/filings/public/filing/304977a5-3e0a-4d06-9f69-f2e5cb0cfc09/print/ ; Cornerstone Government Affairs registration posted November 26, 2024, https://lda.gov/filings/public/filing/52af18bf-30a7-44c6-b1b9-6841e4616d2b/print/ [^16]: Federal Election Commission, Schedule A receipts, contributor "Wang, Alexandr," sub_ids 4011820231711963266, 4060420241959129953, 4052420241950726141, 4052420241950726139, 4091820242040946471 and 4080520242008855753. https://api.open.fec.gov/v1/schedules/schedule_a/ [^17]: Kratsios, Michael. Questionnaire for nominees, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, nomination as Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, 2025, questions 7 to 11 and conflict-of-interest answers. https://www.commerce.senate.gov/services/files/B3086E47-258A-4593-A791-DE02341F9684 [^18]: Rollet, Charles. "Scale AI is being investigated by the US Department of Labor." TechCrunch, March 6, 2025. https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/06/scale-ai-is-being-investigated-by-the-us-department-of-labor/ [^19]: Rollet, Charles. "The Department of Labor just dropped its investigation into Scale AI." TechCrunch, May 9, 2025. https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/09/the-department-of-labor-just-dropped-its-investigation-into-scale-ai/ [^20]: Dzieza, Josh. "AI Is a Lot of Work." The Verge, June 20, 2023. https://www.theverge.com/features/23764584/ai-artificial-intelligence-data-notation-labor-scale-surge-remotasks-openai-chatbots [^21]: Wolverton, Troy. "Suit charges SF's Scale AI with misclassifying workers, wage theft." San Francisco Examiner, December 12, 2024. https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/technology/scale-ai-lawsuit-charges-sf-tech-startup-with-wage-theft/article_b6b3781a-b827-11ef-8cc7-c320ca742702.html [^22]: Ramey v. Scale AI, Inc., No. 3:24-cv-06999-SK (N.D. Cal.), docket entries 1, 24, 32 and 36. CourtListener RECAP. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69230354/ramey-v-scale-ai-inc/ [^23]: Rollet, Charles. "Scale AI is being investigated by the US Department of Labor." TechCrunch, March 6, 2025 (spokesperson statements). https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/06/scale-ai-is-being-investigated-by-the-us-department-of-labor/ [^24]: "MCIT, Scale AI sign partnership agreement." The Peninsula (Qatar), February 24, 2025. https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/24/02/2025/mcit-scale-ai-sign-partnership-agreement [^25]: Scale AI. "Scale AI Appoints Francis deSouza as CEO to Lead Next Phase of Company's Growth." July 30, 2026. https://scale.com/blog/scale-appoints-new-ceo