The story of Alexandr Wang, the American genius of Chinese origins who founded Scale AI and became the youngest tech billionaire on the planet.
Alexandr Wang is currently one of the most influential names in the global tech landscape. Born in January 1997 in Los Alamos, New Mexico, to Chinese immigrant parents, both physicists at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Wang distinguished himself from a young age with his mathematical and computer science skills. Today, he is known as the founder of Scale AI, the startup that revolutionized the artificial intelligence sector and made him the youngest tech billionaire on the planet.
From childhood, Wang showed an uncommon aptitude for mathematics and programming. He participated in national competitions such as the Math Olympiad and the US Physics Team, achieving notable results. After graduating from Los Alamos High School, he enrolled at the prestigious MIT, where he began studying mathematics and computer science. However, his time at the university was short-lived, and after just a year, Wang decided to drop out to devote himself fully to an entrepreneurial project that would change his life and the AI industry.
In 2016, together with Lucy Guo, he founded Scale AI with the goal of solving one of the most complex problems in artificial intelligence: the need to label large amounts of high-quality data to train machine learning models. Thanks to its innovative platform that combines automation and human labor, Scale AI quickly established itself as a strategic partner for giants such as Meta, Microsoft, General Motors, and many US government agencies.
Alexandr Wang’s Journey: From Student to Billionaire
Alexandr Wang’s story is emblematic of a new generation of tech entrepreneurs who, like Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates before them, have chosen to leave the most prestigious universities to pursue a vision. Wang has always stated that his goal was to build technologies useful for society and his country, inspired by his parents’ work in scientific research.
Scale AI’s success has been rapid and overwhelming. In 2021, Wang became the world’s youngest self-made billionaire, with an estimated 14-15% stake in the company and a personal valuation that, according to Forbes, will reach $3.6 billion in 2025. The company’s growth has been supported by major funding rounds and strategic partnerships with giants such as Meta, which in June 2025 invested over $14 billion to acquire 49% of Scale AI’s shares, bringing the company’s valuation to approximately $29 billion.
Despite this rapid success, Wang has also weathered challenging times. By 2023, the company’s valuation had dropped, temporarily knocking him off the billionaire list. However, thanks to a new capital injection and a strategy of diversifying its services, Scale AI has returned to growth, consolidating Wang’s position among the most influential leaders in global AI.
The future of AI according to Wang
Today, Wang is not only a successful entrepreneur but also one of the most listened to voices in the AI debate. His vision is for AI that is not only powerful, but also safe and aligned with human values. Scale AI has created a research lab dedicated to the alignment and safety of generative models, with the aim of developing benchmarks and tools to assess the reliability of new technologies.
In 2025, Wang announced his move to Meta to lead new AI superintelligence projects, while maintaining a role on Scale AI’s board of directors.
Original article published on Money.it Italy. Original title: Chi è Alexandr Wang, il fondatore di Scale AI diventato il miliardario tech più giovane del mondo
