Facebook Reportedly Creating Team That Will Build Its Own Chips

Facebook is reportedly forming a new team that would design and build its own chips. The company’s plan to build its own chips appears to be in its early stages, but the company wants the chips to power its artificial systems and its hardware products.

People familiar with the matter claim that Facebook wants to design and build its own chips to lower its reliance on chipmakers like Intel and Qualcomm. To start building its own processors, Facebook will have to form a new team. Bloomberg discovered that the company has posted a job listing on its corporate website and is looking for a manager that will build an “end-to-end SoC/ASIC, firmware and driver development organization.”

Facebook isn’t the only company that wants to reduce its dependence on major chipmakers. Apple, for example, began shipping its own chips back in 2010 and most of its major products, like the iPhones, are powered by Apple-made processors. Apple is also planning to replace the Intel processors that power its Mac computers.

Google has also developed its first custom chipset, called the Pixel Visual Core, to bring better camera performance to the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. Meanwhile, Amazon is also rumored to be developing its own chips to improve the AI capabilities of Alexa, as pointed out by The Verge.

Facebook could use its own chips to power its artificial intelligence servers, which are currently NVIDIA-powered. AI plays a huge role in Facebook as the company uses it for facial recognition for photos posted on its social network, as pointed out by CNET.

The company could also use its own processors to power future Oculus virtual reality headsets. Facebook’s standalone $199 Oculus Go VR headset, which is scheduled to be released next month, is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 821 processor.

Facebook is also believed to be working on its very own smart speakers, which were recently put on hold due to the company’s recent data privacy scandal. The company could just use its own chips to power its new smart speakers that are expected to arrive with Facebook’s own digital voice assistant. Facebook is believed to be working on two smart speakers: one that features a touchscreen display and codenamed “Portal” and another one that’s codenamed “Fiona.”

Whichever the case, Facebook’s plan to build its own processors signals the company’s efforts to tightly integrate hardware and software. Doing this would make it easier for the company to optimize and improve its various systems across its products.