Alexandr Wang’s Playbook for Beating the Rap

Political influence, a crony in the White House, and national‑security spin can override accountability.

Dec 13, 2025

I first wrote about Alexandr Wang and Scale AI when Meta purchased a 49% stake in the company for $14.3 billion. What could warrant such a price tag? A quick search yielded serious labor exploitation allegations, a Department of Labor (DOL) investigation, and a troubling silence from mainstream media.

Despite a year of unusually open access to reporters and podcasters, no one appears to have asked Wang directly about Scale AI’s labor practices or legal troubles. Even 60 Minutes gave Wang a pass. The segment exposed egregious abuse of gig workers in Kenya, but never mentioned the young billionaire making his fortune on the backs of labor.

By May 2025, the DOL investigation into Scale AI was quietly dropped. How did this happen?

Shielded by AI as an Imperative

Wang spent years cultivating elite access and positioning Scale AI at the center of the “AI national security” movement. This strategy shielded him from scrutiny. His biggest coup came in February of 2025, when Scale AI’s previous Managing Director, Michael Kratsios, sailed through Senate confirmation to lead the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) while Scale was still under active DOL investigation.

Kratsios spent years building a resume at the intersection of government power and big tech. He was chief of staff to Peter Thiel from 2012-2017, then served as CTO and Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering in Trump’s first administration, before joining Scale AI.

As head of OSTP, he advances a blend of oxymoronic policies—championing less government oversight and free markets, except when it comes to securing federal control and charitable subsidies for trillion‑dollar tech companies in need.

Recently, President Trump signed an executive order aimed at blocking states from regulating AI. The order explicitly tasked Kratsios with developing recommendations for a federal framework that would preempt state authority. Framed as a bid for national consistency, the move further institutionalized Big Tech protections, shielding companies like Scale AI from stricter state‑level labor accountability, and making it harder for states to establish any safety standards in AI overall.

The Confirmation Hearing

On February 25, 2025, senators gathered in the storied Russell Senate Office Building—home to hearings on the Titanic, McCarthyism, and Watergate.

Kratsios’s confirmation was less dramatic, but no less ominous.

At Scale AI, Kratsios brokered Pentagon contracts and steered the company’s rapid expansion. During that same period, a growing number of annotators and contractors alleged wage theft, misclassification, and retaliation. As managing director, Kratsios may not have overseen day‑to‑day labor practices, but it is difficult to imagine he was unaware of the serious allegations.

Witnesses to the DOL investigation (whistleblowers) watched the hearings from around the country, believing Kratsios would be in the hot seat. Why? Because they had briefed Senator Maria Cantwell’s staff days before the hearing. Sam Blum of Inc. reported that 45 current and former contractors sent letters to the Commerce Committee. As ranking member, they were addressed to Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and detailed unpaid wages, denied bonuses, and below‑minimum pay. Below is an excerpt of one of the letters provided to me by a whistleblower:

“I am writing to bring to your attention very serious issues with Scale AI’s labor practices and strong concern about Mr. Kratsios’ potential influence on AI policy and government contracts.”

Yet during the hearing, not a single senator asked Kratsios about Scale AI’s labor practices. Cantwell focused on test beds. Klobuchar asked about R&D funding. The only mention of Scale AI came from Senator Hagerty, praising Kratsios for helping Scale AI become one of the most well-respected companies in the world.

Senators have teams to prepare them. A simple search would have surfaced the allegations. Cantwell’s staff interviewed whistleblowers. Silence prevailed. For the whistleblowers watching the livestream, it was a betrayal.

I reached out to Cantwell’s office multiple times, hoping for a meeting to discuss the matter and to gain an understanding of why Cantwell chose not to bring up the DOL investigation. Politics often involves making hard choices and compromise, but it was a missed opportunity to shed a national spotlight on the labor exploitation that big tech is normalizing.

Stars Align for Big Tech

Kratsios sailed through his hearings and was sworn in as head of OSTP on March 25, 2025. Wang gained insulation and more influence, while Kratsios—his former managing director—secured one of the most powerful policy posts in Washington. The DOL probe vanished, and whistleblowers were silenced.

Timeline of Power and Political Favor:

January 20, 2017-January 20, 2021 - Michael Kratsio serves as U.S. Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Acting Under Secretary of Defense for R&E beginning July 20, 2021.

March 2021-January 17, 2024 – Michael Kratsios, Managing Director for Scale AI

August 28, 2023 - The Washington Post reports on Scale AI labor exploitation overseas

August 2024 – DOL begins investigating Scale AI for Fair Labor Standards Act violations

November 24, 2024 – 60 Minutes covers Scale AI labor abuse overseas with no mention of founder/CEO Alexandr Wang

Feb 21-24, 2025 – Letter campaign to Senator Maria Cantwell regarding Scale AI labor allegations; Cantwell’s office conducts interviews with whistleblowers.

Feb 24, 2025 – Sam Blum of Inc. Magazine reports on the whistleblower letters to the Commerce Committee, addressed to Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA)

Feb 25, 2025 – Kratsios confirmation hearing

March 6, 2025 – TechCrunch/ Charles Rollet first to report DOL investigation into Scale AI

March 25, 2025 – Kratsios confirmed 74-25 by the Senate with bipartisan support

May 1, 2025 – DOL reverts to 2008 contractor standards

May 9, 2025 – DOL drops Scale AI investigation

June 12, 2025 – Meta/Zuckerberg $14.3B investment in Scale AI

The convergence of Wang’s geopoliticking, elite access, and Kratsios’s appointment has created a protective halo around Scale AI. By casting AI as a national security imperative—and leveraging his ability to convene world leaders—Wang has largely insulated himself from regulatory scrutiny. The Department of Labor’s quiet dismissal of its investigation into Scale AI, issued just days after new labor guidelines, underscores how political influence and alignment with national priorities can override accountability.

Now, with Kratsios in place, the tech elite enjoy unprecedented access to the White House. Sam Altman has already petitioned him for government backing of OpenAI’s trillion‑dollar drunken sailor bets. Kratsios’s appointment is not merely symbolic; it risks entrenching Big Tech’s immunity from labor oversight while channeling public resources into an “AI race or bust” agenda. The costs—borne by American taxpayers—could be enormous, leaving workers and whistleblowers sidelined as national policy bends to the ambitions of a few.

I recently spoke with Tobias Mark Jensen about Labor Exploitation in Big Tech’s race to AGI. He is across the world from me, doing his part to hold Big Tech accountable for ethics in AI.

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