Meta-supported Scale AI wins $500 million contract from U.S. Department of Defense

According to foreign media reports, the U.S. Pentagon has awarded Scale AI, a company backed by Meta Platforms (META.O), a contract worth $500 million to assist with data processing and decision-making support. This marks the latest move by the U.S. military to further rely on artificial intelligence. The value of this agreement is five times that of the $100 million contract the company secured in September 2025. Dan Tadross, head of Scale AI's public sector business, stated in an interview that the Pentagon had "pushed the original contract to its limits." Tadross added, "I believe this contract overall demonstrates the department's strong desire to adopt this technology." Furthermore, the San Francisco-based company is also involved in the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU)'s "Thunderforge" program, which aims to integrate AI into military planning and operations, as well as Trump's "Golden Dome" homeland defense architecture.