The pace of AI development has never been faster. Every week brings new breakthroughs and major shifts in how the AI ecosystem is structured. Meta’s reported $15 billion acquisition of Scale AI is a powerful reminder that data is the long-term battleground in AI.
While models continue to evolve rapidly, it’s the quality, diversity, and control of AI training data that determine how fast and how far those models can go. Meta’s investment underscores what many in the field already know: whoever controls the best data pipelines will shape the future of AI.
This shift raises important questions for those of us building next-generation systems:
Who’s providing your training data? And what are their incentives?
At Appen, we’ve been in this space for nearly 30 years. We understand how important it is to have partners who are fully aligned with your strategy. That’s why we want to speak directly about what this moment means – and why neutrality has always been core to our business.
Independence Matters More Than Ever
Some data providers are moving upstream, entering the same markets as their customers and pursuing strategies that blur the lines between partner and competitor. That’s a valid business model. But it’s not ours.
At Appen, we focus exclusively on helping our customers build better models. We don’t compete with them – we enable them.
That independence brings real strategic advantage:
- Operational Clarity: No conflicting priorities between your goals and those of your vendor.
- Strategic Protection: Reduced risk of competitors gaining visibility into your model development pipeline.
- Flexibility and Control: The ability to evolve your AI strategy on your terms without worrying about external influence.
What We’re Seeing from Leading AI Labs
Over the past year, two trends have become clear:
- Model complexity is accelerating – especially in areas like reasoning, RAG, agent workflows, and multilingual coverage.
- Customers are seeking partners who can scale with them, without hidden agendas.
That’s where Appen fits in. We’ve worked with 80% of the world’s top foundation model builders. Our contributors span 500+ languages across 200+ countries, and we’ve delivered more than 15,000 AI data projects – covering everything from LLM fine-tuning and evaluation to red teaming and multimodal annotation.
Appen supports leading AI labs in both the United States and China, giving us a uniquely broad perspective on what’s working, where innovation is headed, and how different ecosystems are approaching the next phase of model development. That cross-market insight directly informs how we support our customers around the world.
Recent examples:
- Delivered over 250,000 rows of RLHF and SFT data across 70+ dialects
- Built a multilingual AI benchmark using native-sourced data in 30+ languages
- Completed rapid evaluation loops, delivering 90,000 rows in 4-day sprints
- Supported Microsoft Translator expanding to 110+ languages, including rare dialects
What This Means for You
In a market where vendor roles are shifting, it’s more important than ever to choose partners with a clear, unwavering focus.
Appen is committed to supporting, not competing with, the organizations building the future of AI. We offer scale, multilingual reach, deep task expertise, and a track record of trusted execution – informed by global insight across both Western and Eastern innovation leaders.
If you’re reassessing your data strategy or wondering how recent market shifts might affect your roadmap, we’d welcome the opportunity to connect.
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Ryan Kolln
CEO, Appen