Scale AI

AI Data Infrastructure — Powering the World's Leading AI Models

The consensus on Scale AI: Choose Scale AI if you want to build data infrastructure for OpenAI and the US government — but expect long hours and inconsistent management.

2016
Founded
San Francisco
Headquarters
~1,200
Employees
$14B
Valuation
Free Work at Scale AI? Claim this profile
Update your company's culture data, respond to reviews, and feature your open roles prominently.
Culture Overview

What it's really like to work at Scale AI

Founded in 2016 by Alexandr Wang and Lucy Guo out of Y Combinator, Scale AI is the “picks and shovels” of the AI gold rush — building the critical data infrastructure that powers models from OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, and the US government. The culture is fast-paced and engineering-driven, with a strong emphasis on shipping product and making real-world impact. Expect driven, ambitious coworkers tackling hard problems at the intersection of data and AI.

Glassdoor Ratings

Scale AI Glassdoor Ratings & Employee Reviews

3.5
Overall Glassdoor Score
Based on ~400 reviews
Culture & Values 2.9
Compensation & Benefits 3.5
Senior Management 2.8
Career Opportunities 3.6
Work-Life Balance 2.7
Overall Rating 3.5
56% Recommend to a Friend
60% CEO Approval (Alexandr Wang)
Employee Review Themes

Working at Scale AI: Pros & Cons

What employees love

  • Building critical AI data infrastructure used by OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, and the US government
  • Strong compensation for engineers — competitive base + equity packages
  • Career growth opportunities in a rapidly expanding market (3.6/5 career rating)
  • Smart, driven coworkers solving hard problems at the intersection of data and AI
  • Unique position in the AI ecosystem — the “picks and shovels” of the AI gold rush

What could be better

  • Work-life balance rated 2.7/5 — long hours are common, especially during client deadlines
  • Culture and values scored 2.9/5 — some teams report inconsistent management quality
  • Rapid scaling has led to organizational growing pains and process gaps
  • Contractor workforce dynamics can create complexity in team structure
Engineering Culture

How the engineering team works

Tech Stack

Python Go TypeScript React

AI Data Platform

AI data annotation platform powering major AI labs. Internal ML models for data quality and automation. Focus on RLHF, data labeling, and model evaluation.

Key Clients

Works with OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, and the US government. The critical data layer behind the world’s most advanced AI systems. Learn more →

Team Structure

Engineering-driven culture focused on shipping fast and iterating on product. Teams work across data labeling, ML automation, and enterprise deployment.

Open Positions

Join the Scale AI team

... open positions.

Community Sentiment

What the community says about Scale AI

Mixed Sentiment 6 mentions from Hacker News & Reddit · Updated 2026-04-21
“It's bizarre to see tech bros, YC, and megacorporations kill the startup talent pipeline that they rely on so much.Who is gonna want to work at a startup in a non-founder role after this and Scale AI?”
Hacker News xvector · 2025-07-26 View thread →
“I'd push back on a couple things here.The notion that Scale AI's data is of secondary value to Wang seems wrong: data-labeling in the era of agentic RL is more sophisticated than the pejorative view of outsourcing mechanical turk work at slave wages to third world...”
Hacker News vagabund · 2025-06-28 View thread →
“AAAI 2026: My ReflectionsThe 40th annual conference of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, #AAAI2026, recently concluded in Singapore, marking the first time this landmark event has been held in Asia.”
Hacker News nuuuwan · 2026-01-27 View thread →
“I don't know why people automatically jump to Apple's defense on this.... They absolutely did spend a lot of money and hired people to try this. They 100% do NOT have the open and bottom-up culture needed to pull off large scale AI and software projects like this.”
Hacker News nosman · 2026-01-12 View thread →
“The problem I see with the implementation of AI is people deploy it without oversight or review. For example, students having ChatGPT write their paper and turning it in without looking at it. I use AI alot in photo editing but I don't wave my hand and say, "Fix my photos".”
Reddit r/antiwork · 1301 upvotes · 2025-10-26 View thread →

Sentiment data refreshed daily from public Hacker News and Reddit discussions. See all company profiles →

🏢

Claim Scale AI

Take ownership of your company's culture profile. Update your data, respond to community sentiment, and feature your open roles to candidates who care about culture.

Request received!

We'll review your request and get back to you within 24 hours at the email you provided.