Facebook has begun putting together a team of people who can work on chip designs, Bloomberg reported shortly before market close on Wednesday.
The report cited people familiar with the matter and pointed to a job listing that says Facebook wants a manager who can “build and manage an end-to-end SoC/ASIC, firmware and driver development organization.”
An SOC (system-on-a-chip) is a general concept for chip architectures, and is commonly used in the design of chips for mobile devices, while an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) refers to a chip designed for a special purpose.
Facebook operates data centers all over the world, which is a major use of capital. Tech companies like Alphabet and Microsoft have sought gains through chip customization specifically for artificial intelligence, although the job posting does not immediately signal the team will be primarily focused on AI.
Nevertheless, Yann LeCun a key figure in AI who works as Facebook’s chief AIscientist, shared a link to a chip-related job posting on Twitter on Wednesday.
Chipmaker Intel’s stock dropped slightly right after the news came out, then quickly rebounded. Facebook has shown interest in trying Intel’s special-purpose chips for AI.
Facebook declined to comment.
Read the full Bloomberg report here.
