AI Startup Scale AI, which is backed by social media giant Meta Platforms (META), landed a $500 million contract to help the U.S. military process data and support decision-making. Notably, the deal is five times larger than the $100 million contract Scale received in September 2025. Dan Tadross, who leads Scale’s public sector business, told Bloomberg that the Pentagon was already “pushing the limits” of the original deal. In his view, the new contract shows that the department is serious about adopting AI more broadly.
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The agreement was signed with the Pentagon’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office and is among the larger AI deals the military has made. Scale is also involved in the Defense Innovation Unit’s Thunderforge program, which is focused on using AI in military planning and operations. In addition, the company is working on President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome homeland defense architecture.
Interestingly, Meta Platforms, which took a 49% stake in Scale last year, is therefore indirectly tied to one of the Pentagon’s more important AI infrastructure projects. Separately, the Pentagon reached agreements with Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Reflection AI, and Amazon (AMZN) earlier this month to increase the use of advanced AI tools on classified military networks.
What Is the Price Target for Meta?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on META stock based on 31 Buys, seven Holds, and zero Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average META price target of $817.71 per share implies 33.4% upside potential.
