Business
Scale AI’s Rivals Are Going Hard to Win Its Contractors and Clients

Meta spent $14.3 billion to acquire nearly half of Scale AI and level up in the AI race — but the startup’s rivals spy an opportunity as well.
Executives at five Scale AI competitors told Business Insider that they have seen a big uptick in client inquiries and job interest since the Meta deal was announced on June 13.
Meta now holds a 49% stake in a company handling AI training data for many of its competitors, like Google, OpenAI, and xAI. In response, those three companies paused at least some of their work with Scale AI. Independence from Big Tech has now become a core part of the pitch for rival AI training companies vying for those contracts.
In a blog post following the Meta deal, Scale AI reassured clients that it remains a “neutral, independent partner.”
Ryan Kolln, the CEO of data annotation firm Appen, told BI the deal would “create a pretty big disruption to our industry and create huge opportunities for Appen and our peers to fill the hole that’s going to be left by Scale.”
“The added pitch is, ‘hey, we are a publicly listed company and we’re really focused on data neutrality,'” added Kolln, whose company counts Amazon and Nvidia as clients. “Our customers are really evaluating their vendor ecosystem.”
UK-based Prolific, which provides vetted freelancers for academic and commercial AI research, is also using neutrality as a selling point, its CEO, Phelim Bradley, told BI.
“We don’t build models. We don’t compete with our customers. We don’t have conflicting incentives,” Bradley said.
He added that clients are now reluctant to go all in on a single AI training provider. Big companies often spread their work among vendors, like cloud providers.
“Scale benefited a lot from their awareness and being synonymous with data labeling for Big Tech,” Bradley said. “Now, it’s a much easier question to answer: ‘How are you different from Scale?'”
A Scale AI spokesperson told BI that “nothing has changed” about its customer data protection.
“A lot of this confusion is being driven by smaller competitors who seek to gain from promoting false claims,” they added. “Security and customer trust have always been core to our business, and we will continue to ensure the right protections are in place to help safeguard all of our work with customers.”
Meta did not respond to a request for comment.
Jonathan Siddharth, the CEO of Turing, which trains models for major AI labs including Meta, Anthropic, and Google, said that discussions with customers have increased tenfold as frontier labs realize they need “top talent and impartial partners.”
“Labs increasingly want a Switzerland-like collaborator — someone model-agnostic — who can help them win the AGI race, rather than being tied to a single player,” he said, referring to artificial general intelligence. He added that data annotation companies are often working on the exact capabilities that differentiate one AI model from another.
None of the Scale AI rivals that BI spoke with quantified the number of inquiries they have received from Big Tech companies since Meta’s investment.
Talent war
Scale AI’s competitors are also moving to pick up its freelance workers, some of whom have had projects they are working on paused after clients like Google halted them.
Scale has at least 240,00 gig workers globally who conduct AI training projects, such as flagging harmful chatbot responses. After some of Scale AI’s projects were paused, the market became flooded with freelancers looking for work.
Sapien AI CEO Rowan Stone told BI that his company had 40,000 new annotators join within 48 hours of Meta’s Scale AI deal.
“Our servers are currently melting,” Stone said last week. “Our engineering team spent the entire weekend bolstering load balancers, spinning up new infrastructure, and getting us ready for the load that we’re seeing.”
Many of these new sign-ups were from India and the Philippines — regions where Scale AI had long been a leader, Stone added. “The change in user signup pattern coincides pretty neatly with the Scale news,” he said.
Jeff Chiu/AP
Mercor AI’s head of product, Osvald Nitski, said that the startup has received applications from full-time Scale employees, adding, “Our hiring bar is extremely high — we’re only taking the best people.”
Mercor says it works with six of the “Magnificent Seven” tech companies and is picking up projects from clients leaving Scale.
In terms of contractors, Nitski said the company is focused on recruiting elite-level annotators, like International Math Olympiad medalists, Rhodes Scholars, and Ph.D. students.
Nitski said it’s been a busy two weeks at Mercor, as it has seen a sharp increase in inbound interest from major tech clients.
“There was simply no time for podcasts and blog posts these past few weeks with all of the demand to be fulfilled,” Nitski said.
Business
BizCard Introduces AI-Powered Digital Business Card to Transform Networking

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — BizCard, the AI-powered digital business card platform, today announced the launch of its latest innovation designed to help professionals connect, engage, and grow their networks globally. Available as both a web and mobile application, BizCard enables users to create a personalized AI-powered digital identity easily within minutes, elevating a digital card into a dynamic virtual assistant capable of handling inquiries, qualifying leads, and driving opportunities across multiple channels and languages.
BizCard is ideal for freelancers, independent consultants, entrepreneurs, professionals and executives across various corporate functions, seeking to expand their networks efficiently.
Its key AI functions-Call My Agent for managing calls, AI Presenter for creating dynamic presentations, and Meeting for automated meeting transcripts and summaries-equip users with a powerful digital identity that facilitates effortless first contact. BizCard enables smooth introductions without awkwardness or pressure. It builds instant trust and credibility through accurate, proactive and professional interactions. This tool actively engages visitors to transform curiosity into commitment, converting initial interest into meaningful business opportunities.
Key Features of BizCard:
- Digital Twin: BizCard’s AI agent is designed to reflect a user’s preferred appearance, voice and style, offering the flexibility to create relevant custom identities for different brands and services. Companies can also use BizCard as a powerful customer acquisition tool, creating their own AI agents and personal business cards to acquire leads, and placing widgets on their official websites as engaging sales and promotion touchpoints.
- Through key functions like Call My Agent, BizCard is pioneering the next wave of customer engagement–AI assistants that not only answer calls, but also connect with customers and schedule meetings in real time, acting as a true digital twin.
- Its other key function, AI Presenter, equips professionals with the ability to autonomously transform documents into polished, high-impact presentations.
- Effortless Engagement: BizCard initiates natural conversations that build trust, answer inquiries, and qualify leads. It can also nurture prospects on communication platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram, and seamlessly route high-intent leads to sales for follow-up through its AI SDR capabilities. Also, with BizCard Meeting, discussions will be recorded and turned into actionable summaries.
- Intelligent Contact Management: Captures and organizes contacts from calls, documents, and social platforms, tracks transcripts and prioritizes high-potential prospects. Draft personalized messages and get meetings scheduled efficiently, reducing overall administrative effort.
- One Link, Global Reach: A single, shareable link delivers a professional digital identity across any platform, including social media, messaging apps, email, or other digital channels. Supports multiple languages such as English, Spanish, Arabic and more, enabling natural, seamless engagement with audiences worldwide.
BizCard is built to help professionals focus on building relationships, not paperwork. By automating administrative tasks, BizCard turns connections into actionable opportunities more efficiently.
Sales, marketing and branding teams can leverage BizCard to capture and qualify leads, enable timely follow-ups, and support automated marketing campaigns–accomplishing tasks that would otherwise require significant manual effort. By combining real-time interactions, personalized AI, and multichannel accessibility, BizCard empowers everyone to seamlessly turn contacts into customers.
BizCard continues to evolve with smarter networking tools, intelligent follow-ups, and advanced engagement analytics, ensuring it turns every interaction into real business impact. Start creating your AI BizCard today: https://card.biz
About BizCard
BizCard empowers professionals to create intelligent digital identities that engage audiences globally, streamline communication, and convert interactions into measurable outcomes such as revenue. The platform combines AI-driven engagement, cross-channel accessibility, and integrated CRM functionality to provide every user with a virtual assistant that works tirelessly to grow their network and opportunities.
Learn more about BizCard: https://card.biz
Business
IGE launches artificial intelligence course for business in the ‘Bets’ market

The program was designed specifically for managers and professionals aiming to take on strategic positions within the sports betting and regulated gaming sector, offering content that integrates technological innovation, compliance, and market practices.
The course curriculum includes modules focused on:
– Automation and operational efficiency: application of intelligent chatbots, large-scale data processing, and cost reduction;
– Accelerated game development: use of AI for content generation, RTP mathematical testing, and mechanics simulations;
– Personalized experience: real-time behavior analysis, individualized recommendations, and adaptive design;
– Compliance and integrity: monitoring for anti-money laundering prevention, mathematical audits, and Responsible Gaming practices;
– Marketing and retention optimization: automated campaigns, affiliate management, and anti-fraud systems;
– Emerging innovations: AI-assisted game design, dynamic pricing for bonuses, and automated A/B testing.
According to Filipe Rodrigues, founder of the Instituto de Gestão Esportiva, the course arrives at a strategic moment for the sector.
“Artificial intelligence is redefining processes and business models in the betting industry. Our goal is to prepare professionals to understand this technological revolution and apply it in a practical and responsible way, aligned with compliance requirements and innovation opportunities.”
In addition to its hands-on approach, the course will feature highly qualified instructors, combining academic expertise with operational experience in the betting market.
Enrollment is now open and can be completed through this link.
Service:
AI course for business in the ‘Bets’ market
Schedule:
November 10 and 11 – 6 to 8 p.m.
November 17 and 18 – 6 to 8 p.m.
November 24 and 25 – 6 to 8 p.m.
Source: GMB
Business
AI powers next wave of sustainable business innovation

Artificial intelligence is redefining innovation strategies in Chinese enterprises, accelerating their journey toward sustainable growth and global competitiveness. A recent study published in Sustainability explores this dynamic in detail, offering a comprehensive view of how AI is driving transformative changes in the business landscape.
The research, “How Does Artificial Intelligence Application Enable Sustainable Breakthrough Innovation? Evidence from Chinese Enterprises,” analyzes panel data from Chinese A-share listed enterprises spanning 2011 to 2023. The study investigates how AI adoption fosters breakthrough innovation, the role of knowledge recombination in this process, and how market competition shapes outcomes. The findings provide valuable insights for businesses, policymakers, and industry leaders navigating the digital economy.
AI as a catalyst for breakthrough innovation
The study highlights that AI is a powerful enabler of sustainable breakthrough innovation across industries. Advanced AI tools, from deep learning and natural language processing to big data analytics, allow companies to integrate massive volumes of structured and unstructured data, enabling rapid analysis and smarter decision-making. This integration supports faster product development, more innovative business models, and optimized processes that enhance efficiency and drive sustainability.
Firms deploying AI are seeing a marked increase in their ability to disrupt traditional markets with novel solutions. By using machine learning to predict market trends or generative AI to design new products, organizations are carving out competitive advantages that were previously unattainable. This acceleration of innovation is particularly evident in high-tech industries, where AI is streamlining research and development and reducing time-to-market cycles.
The research underscores that AI’s role is not limited to operational gains. It actively reshapes organizational strategies by aligning technological capabilities with long-term sustainability objectives. By enabling smarter allocation of resources and more precise forecasting, AI supports enterprises in meeting both financial and environmental performance targets.
Knowledge recombination as the innovation engine
A central theme in the study is the mediating role of knowledge recombination. The researchers found that companies leveraging AI effectively are not only generating new insights but also transforming how knowledge is created, shared, and reused within their organizations.
Two dimensions of knowledge recombination were identified: creation and reuse. Through creation, companies integrate diverse knowledge sources, internal expertise, external partnerships, and big data, to produce innovative ideas that lead to breakthrough products or services. Reuse, on the other hand, involves repurposing existing organizational knowledge in innovative ways, enabling firms to accelerate project timelines and lower development costs while maintaining quality and innovation.
The study reveals that organizations embedding AI into their knowledge management systems are better positioned to innovate continuously. Cloud-based collaboration platforms, AI-driven analytics tools, and machine learning algorithms collectively foster a culture of agility and responsiveness. This alignment of AI and knowledge strategies supports sustainable innovation momentum, allowing firms to adapt quickly to market shifts and emerging opportunities.
Market competition as a catalyst and moderator
Market competition emerged as a significant moderator of the relationship between AI and breakthrough innovation. The analysis shows that in highly competitive markets, firms are more likely to leverage AI aggressively to generate unique and hard-to-replicate innovations. The pressure to outperform rivals fuels investments in AI-driven insights, accelerating the pace of innovation and reinforcing competitive advantages.
Conversely, in environments with moderate competition, firms tend to focus on incremental improvements. While they still benefit from AI-enhanced analytics and strategic insights, their innovation efforts are less radical and more focused on efficiency and gradual enhancements.
The research also uncovers notable variations across ownership structures and regions. State-owned enterprises (SOEs) demonstrate stronger capacity to mobilize resources for AI adoption, benefiting from policy support and access to capital. Meanwhile, firms in eastern China lead in AI-driven innovation due to advanced digital infrastructure, mature technological ecosystems, and greater exposure to global markets. Enterprises in central and western regions, while making progress, face infrastructural and skill-related constraints that slow their pace of transformation.
Strategic and policy implications
For enterprises, the study recommends integrating AI deeply into organizational processes and knowledge systems. Building robust data ecosystems, fostering cross-departmental collaboration, and cultivating a culture that values experimentation are essential steps for maximizing AI’s potential in driving breakthrough innovation.
For policymakers, the research highlights the importance of investing in digital infrastructure and supportive innovation ecosystems. By creating platforms for knowledge sharing and collaboration, governments can enhance the collective capacity of enterprises to adopt and integrate AI effectively. Regulatory frameworks should balance fostering innovation with ensuring data security and ethical AI use, enabling a sustainable and responsible digital transformation.
According to the study, maintaining a balanced competitive environment is critical. Excessive competition can strain resources and disrupt long-term innovation strategies, while insufficient competition can lead to stagnation. Strategic policies that promote healthy competition and incentivize innovation are key to sustaining the momentum of AI-driven transformation.
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