Facebook is following in the footsteps of other tech companies and planning to build its own chips. The move comes after recent efforts by Google, Apple and Amazon to reduce their reliance on Intel and Qualcomm.
According to a report by Bloomberg, Facebook has announced job openings for chip designers. The company is looking to assemble a team of engineers who have the experience and can meet its expectations.
The list of requirements includes experience building solutions focused on AI and machine learning. Facebook AI researcher Yann LeCun recently tweeted about a similar job posting. The position is full-time and is based in the company's Menlo Park office.
Interested in designing ASIC & FPGA for AI?
Design engineer positions are available at Facebook in Menlo Park.I used to be a chip designer many moons ago: my engineering diploma was in Electrical… https://t.co/D4l9kLpIlV
— Yann LeCun (@ylecun) April 18, 2018
As this project is still in its infancy, there are no detailed details yet. However, given that the job postings are in the “infrastructure” category, it would be safe to assume that the company wants to start with its servers and AI chips that are an integral part of how Facebook operates.
However, the overall project could not be limited to just server infrastructure. It is also known that Facebook is working on the launch of its own smart speakers and already has hardware devices on the market under the Oculus brand. So it would make a lot of sense for the company to design custom chips to suit the machine learning requirements of its devices.
It will be interesting to see if Facebook plans to implement its smart speaker plan immediately, as it is already facing problems due to the Cambridge Analytica scandal and other cases that have arisen. It remains to be seen whether potential users will be positive about giving the company even more access to their personal lives.
