Scale AI has carried out another round of workforce reductions following its $14 billion investment from Meta, cutting 12 contractors from its Red Team— a group responsible for testing AI models for potential risks and harms. The terminations were communicated via email on Friday evening, with the message stating that the contractors' performance had fallen below role standards. The affected workers, based in San Francisco, were hired through third-party staffing agencies like HireArt, which sent the termination notices. According to multiple current and former employees who spoke on condition of anonymity, the cuts were widely perceived as layoffs, despite Scale AI’s claim that they were not part of a broader restructuring. A company spokesperson, Natalia Montalvo, confirmed the cuts were limited to a small fraction of the Red Team and emphasized that Scale continues to run active red teaming projects for major AI clients. She said the company remains committed to investing in AI safety testing services. However, former team members said the drop in work began shortly after Meta’s investment and the hiring of Scale’s CEO, Alexandr Wang, by Meta. One former Red Teamer estimated the cuts represented about half the team’s size. Another said team members were increasingly reassigned to general, non-specialized tasks unrelated to AI safety testing, undermining the team’s core purpose. The layoffs follow a larger round in July, when Scale AI cut 14% of its full-time staff and 500 contractors. At the time, the company cited overhiring and shifting market conditions. The July cuts coincided with a major exodus of business from key clients, including OpenAI, which had previously relied heavily on Scale’s Red Team services. Willow Primack, who once led the Red Team at Scale, left for OpenAI shortly after Meta’s investment. The decline in demand for Scale’s red teaming services has raised concerns about the future of AI safety testing as companies prioritize speed and scale over risk mitigation. While Scale AI maintains it is still committed to safety work, the repeated reductions suggest ongoing instability in the sector. The contractors terminated in this round will receive one month of severance pay, but unused paid time off will not be compensated. HireArt will also provide shipping labels for returning company-issued devices and badges.