Scale AI vs Labelbox
Two data-for-AI vendors that sell to the same frontier labs and enterprises, both hiring a true-FDE out of San Francisco, but one pairs the seat with a defense-and-Fortune-500 deployment practice while the other keeps it narrowly on eval and data-engine work.
| Scale AI | Labelbox | |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles | 1 | 1 |
| Comp on board | $240K–$400K TC | $190K–$320K TC |
| FDE type | True forward-deployed | True forward-deployed |
| Travel | High | Medium |
| Comp | Competitive | Competitive |
| Stage | Late-stage | Growth-stage |
| Our take | Unusual breadth — defense and Fortune 500 under one roof — and a clearance path that pays a premium. | Eval and data-engine work all day — a niche seat, but the most durable skill in the FDE toolkit, with a clear exit into lab eval teams. |
Bottom line
Scale AI ($240K–$400K TC, high travel, SF/DC) is the bigger-scope, higher-ceiling seat, and the defense track can open cleared work few FDE roles offer; the cost is heavy travel and a brand association you should be comfortable with. Labelbox ($190K–$320K TC, medium travel, SF/remote US) pays less and is more specialized, but you get deeper eval and post-training data skills with less road time, and a clean exit into lab eval teams. Pick Scale for breadth and ceiling, Labelbox for depth and a calmer calendar.
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