Facebook is looking to build its own chips and hardware according to employment ads the company has placed, as well as people familiar with the matter. It’s believed the company is looking to decrease its dependence on other chip makers such as Intel and Qualcomm.
According to the job postings the company is looking to hire a manager to build “end to end” firmware and driver development organization.
The social media giant could use such chips to power hardware as well as in-house artificial intelligence software. The company is slated to release a virtual-reality headset – the Oculus Go – next month which will run on a Qualcomm chip. The company is also working on a line of “smart” speakers.
Future generations of the devices could be strengthened by proprietary chips. By using its own semiconductors, Facebook would have closer control over product development as well as better ability to integrate hardware with the software that makes it run.
Apple began developing their own chips in 2010 and now uses them in many of their products. Google also uses their own artificial intelligence chip.
The job postings didn’t specify what kind of use Facebook is looking to employ with its chips. One of the job listings lists “expertise to build custom solutions targeted at multiple verticals including AI/ML.”
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