Meta Buys AI Analytics Startup Sundial, Bringing Back Ex-Meta Leaders Julie Zhuo and Chandra Narayanan
Meta has acquired Sundial, an AI data analytics startup co-founded by former Meta leaders Julie Zhuo and Chandra Narayanan, a Meta spokesperson confirmed to Axios. Both are rejoining Meta with members of their team, and Meta's Alex Schultz says Narayanan will lead its data analytics tooling and agents work. Axios reports Sundial will stop serving outside customers when the deal closes; terms were not disclosed.
Meta is buying a team as much as a product: Sundial's founders are former Meta leaders, and the startup's tools will be used inside Meta rather than sold to others. Meta has acquired Sundial, an AI data analytics startup, a Meta spokesperson confirmed to Axios, which reported the deal on Friday, October 23. Co-founder Chandra Narayanan announced on LinkedIn the same day that "Sundial has been acquired by Meta."
Who is joining Meta
Narayanan wrote that he is "(re)joining Meta, along with Julie Zhuo" and other members of the Sundial team, "to build the next generation of AI analytics tools and agents." Axios describes Zhuo as Meta's former vice president of product design and Narayanan as a former analytics director at Facebook. Narayanan wrote that he left Meta nine years ago.
Alex Schultz, whom Axios says Meta named its first chief data officer in July, wrote in a LinkedIn post that Narayanan "will lead our data analytics tooling and agents work." Schultz added: "AI has created effectively unlimited demand for insights, and we want to define the future of AI analytics." Axios reported that the Sundial team will be folded into Meta's data analytics organization under Schultz.
What happens to Sundial's customers
Sundial "will stop serving external customers when the deal closes," Axios reported. Neither Meta nor the founders disclosed the price or other terms.
Limits
- The acquisition is confirmed by a Meta spokesperson quoted by Axios and by Narayanan's and Schultz's LinkedIn posts.
- Narayanan's LinkedIn post describes the acquisition as done, while Axios refers to the deal closing, so the closing date is not clear.
- The Verge's report on the deal relies on Axios, so we do not count it as a second source.
- We left out figures from Meta's internal surveys that Schultz cited, because they cannot be checked.