Uber aims to expand its presence in the artificial intelligence sector by offering data labeling services, coinciding with Meta's recent investment in Scale AI.
Uber's AI Business Expansion
In an interview with Fortune, Uber executive Megha Yethadka confirmed that the company is launching large-scale data sets and tools for organizations developing their own AI models. Uber is offering licensing of its data labeling platform, enabling customers to build AI agents.
"For Uber, our core has always been being the platform of choice for flexible on-demand work," Yethadka said. "That extends itself really well to this business of digital tasks now."
Impact of Meta's Acquisition
Uber's expansion into the data labeling market follows Meta's acquisition of a 49% stake in Scale AI for $14.8 billion. This deal not only bolstered Mark Zuckerberg's position in the AI race but also reportedly unsettled some of Scale's existing clients, including OpenAI and Google. A Bloomberg report indicated that OpenAI would phase out its use of Scale's services due to the Meta deal.
Future of Data Labeling Market
Data labeling is the process of assigning tags or annotations to raw data sets, making them more understandable to AI and machine learning models. Industry research projects that the data labeling market could exceed $17 billion by 2030, highlighting the growing interest in this sector.
As a result of Meta's deal with Scale AI, changes in the data labeling market are becoming evident. Such shifts open new opportunities for companies like Uber looking to capture their share of the expanding AI-related technologies.
