Facebook build own chips for hardware devices

 A new job opening post on Facebook  suggests that the social network is forming a team to build its own  hardware chips, joining other tech titans like Google, Apple, and Amazon  in becoming more self-reliant.
 

According to the post,  Facebook is looking for an expert in ASIC and FPGA—two custom silicon  designs to help it evaluate, develop and drive next-generation  technologies within Facebook—particularly in artificial intelligence and  machine learning.
 

The social media company is seeking to hire an expert who can "an  end-to-end SoC/ASIC, firmware and driver development organization,  including all aspects of front-end and back-end standard cell ASIC  development," reads the job listing on Facebook's corporate website. 

 
SoC (system-on-a-chip) is a processor typically used in mobile devices  with all the components required to power a device, while ASIC  (application-specific integrated circuit) is a customized piece of  silicon designed for a narrow purpose that companies can gear toward  something specific, like mining cryptocurrency.
 

FPGA (field programmable gate array) is an adaptable chip designed to be  a more flexible and modular design that can be tuned to speed up  specific jobs by running a particular piece of software.  

 
First reported  by Bloomberg, building its own processors would help the social media  giant reduce dependency on companies such as Qualcomm and Intel, who  hold the lion's share of the processor market. 

 Reportedly Apple, who already makes its own A-series custom chips for iPhones, iPads and other iThings, has planned to use its custom-designed ARM chips in Mac computers starting as early as 2020, replacing the Intel processors running on its desktop and laptop hardware. 

 Google has also devloped its own artificial intelligence chip, and Amazon is reportedly designing its custom hardware to improve Alexa-equipped devices.
 

The plan to invest in building its own processors could help Facebook to  power its artificial intelligence software, servers in its data  centers, as well as its future hardware devices, like Oculus virtual  reality headsets and smart speakers (similar to Amazon Echo and Google  Home).
 

Using its custom chips would also allow the social media company to gain  more control over its own hardware roadmap better and eventual feature  set to offer better performance to its users. 

 Facebook has not commented on the news yet, so at this time, it is hard to say where the company will deploy its in-house chips.