Pentagon awards $500M contract to Meta-backed Scale AI

The Pentagon awarded a $500 million contract to Meta-backed Scale AI to analyze large volumes of data and support decision-making as part of the US military’s push toward greater use of artificial intelligence, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

The deal represents a fivefold jump from a $100 million contract the company secured from the Pentagon in September 2025.

According to Dan Tadross, who leads Scale AI's public sector business, the Pentagon had been “pushing the limits” of the initial agreement.

“I think this contract is just generally proof that the (Defense) Department is eager to adopt this technology,” Tadross said.

Headquartered in San Francisco, Scale AI is also involved in the Defense Innovation Unit’s Thunderforge initiative, which aims to integrate AI into military strategy and operations, as well as in President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome homeland defense system.

Meta acquired a 49% stake in the company last year.

The agreement, signed with the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, ranks among the Pentagon’s larger AI-related contracts. It aligns with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s broader plan outlined in a January strategy memo to expand AI adoption and remove what he described as bureaucratic obstacles to its implementation.

Earlier in May, the Pentagon also finalized deals with Nvidia Corp., Microsoft Corp., Reflection AI and Amazon Web Services to broaden the use of advanced AI technologies across classified military networks.