Facebook Inc. has joined other leading tech firms such as Apple, Alphabet, Google and Amazon by custom making their chips. This month, Facebook appointed Shahriar Rabii as Silicon’s head and vice president. Shahriar Rabii was a Google employee and is recognized for heading the team tasked with the responsibility of creating chips for devices belonging to the company.
Rabii is set to work under the supervision of Andrew Bosworth who heads virtual reality at the social-networking giant. However, Facebook and Google’s spokesmen did not issue any comments on the hiring of Rabii.
Since the year started, Facebook has been putting together a group that can design and build chips. The company is also aiming at creating semiconductors which are suitable for the firm. The semiconductors will help in the processing of information for the numerous data centers belonging to the Tech-giant.
Google has been spearheading the new development and is on the process of creating chips that will suit devices that will be developed in the future. By the end of the year, Google intends to launch pixel-oriented phones that feature advanced cameras.
The recent moves by the two tech giants represent a massivemove by other technology firms which are working on building own semiconductors which will minimize their reliance on renowned makers of chips such as Intel Corporation. Apple, on the other hand, has been operating with shipments of their own custom-made processors since 2010. The company has also created chips useful for the control of Bluetooth and learning activities that are machine oriented. As at now, the company is shipping iPads and iPhones processors,but by 2020, the company will have Macs that feature their central processors.
The Oculus virtual reality department at Facebook is working in liaison with Building 8 Hardware in creating chips for numerous devices in the future. The social networking giant has also been actively working on the production of hardware that features some smart speakers that will have huge touch screens that allow for video chats. It will be the very first branded device by Facebook.
However, there could be an improvementof these devices in the future with the help of custom processors. When Facebook succeeds in Custom-making the chips, it will be able to gain more leverage in product development that will resonate with its hardware and software.
The chips also hold the potential of improving the efforts of the firm in artificial intelligence. The Tech-giant has also been collaborating with AI in a bid to gain more insights on the nature of content that characterize most social media posts.
