OpenAI vs Scale AI
Side-by-side equity comparison for employees weighing offers at OpenAI or Scale AI. Valuations, funding history, headcount growth, and secondary-market context.
| OpenAI | Scale AI | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest valuation | $852B | $29B |
| Latest round | Series E | Series F |
| Round date | October 2024 | May 2024 |
| Total raised | $13.3B | $1.6B |
| Founded | 2015 | 2016 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Employees | 7,829 | 6,176 |
| Employee YoY growth | +71% | +1% |
| Primary industry | Artificial Intelligence | Artificial Intelligence |
| Secondary-market price | $664.96 | — |
| Base-case equity multiple | — | 1x |
| Upside equity multiple | — | 1x |
| Lead investors | Thrive Capital, SoftBank Vision Fund | Accel, Tiger Global |
| Status | private | private |
Overview
OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company that develops general-purpose AI systems including GPT large language models and the ChatGPT consumer product.
Provides data labeling, data curation, and AI evaluation services for machine learning applications, serving both enterprise and government customers.
Why we compare these
OpenAI and Scale AI both appear on AI foundation model labs .
If you're evaluating offers at either one, the equity math depends on more than the headline valuation — dilution, strike price, time to liquidity, and concentration risk all matter. Use our equity compensation calculator and exit calculator to model your own numbers.