Facebook could be forming a team to develop its own chipsets to be used in its data servers or hardware devices

While tech giants are still largely dependent on chipmakers such as Intel and Qualcomm for chips, a new report states that Facebook could be in the early stages of trying to develop its own chipsets. [caption id=“attachment_4322209” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Facebook logo. Image: Reuters[/caption] The social media giant which has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately will not be the first tech major to try and develop its own chips after Apple did so in 2010 followed by Google which makes its own AI chips. According to a report by Bloomberg, Facebook is looking to hire a manager to build what is phrased as an “end-to-end SoC/ASIC, firmware and driver development organisation” on its corporate website. According to the Bloomberg report, the job vacancy was also shared by Facebook AI researcher Yann LeCun on his Twitter handle on Wednesday.

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

Facebook, despite being a social media company could require its own chips to run a number of hardware devices it plans on releasing in the near future. The semiconductors could also be used to power its artificial intelligence software and servers. The California-based giant is expected to launch the **Oculus Go** virtual headset which currently uses a processor made by Qualcomm. Making its own chips could help Facebook further reduce manufacturing costs while also helping them optimise hardware better. Apart from virtual headsets, Facebook is working on a couple of **smart home speakers** which could be bettered with custom chips which gives them more control.