Scale AI has sued ex-employee Eugene Ling and rival Mercor, alleging trade secret theft after Ling allegedly took over 100 confidential documents on customer strategies. Scale claims Ling pitched Mercor to a major client before leaving. Mercor denies using Scale’s data but admits Ling had files in a personal drive. The case highlights rivalry in the AI training market, as Meta’s TBD Labs still works with Mercor despite investing in Scale.