If Facebook has been bad at something lately, it's two things: keeping users safe and developing cool hardware from Facebook. But now, judging by the recently opened vacancies in the company, Facebook is seriously engaged in the production of technology. According to Bloomberg, Facebook is looking for an ASIC development manager. ASIC is an Application Specific Integrated Circuit, a special purpose integrated circuit that does this: it is a processing chip that performs a specific task. The popularity of ASIC technologies has grown dramatically against the backdrop of the boom in cryptocurrencies: ASIC miners are used to mine bitcoins in more quantities than processors or video cards could allow. Simply because ASIC hardware is capable of one task very well.
Bloomberg notes that in Facebook's case, such a job could mean anything from future Oculus headsets to the processors needed for Facebook's future servers. But more importantly, this is not the only new vacancy for the new chip design program. The vacancy was posted by the head of artificial intelligence development on Facebook. This means that Facebook plans to seriously tackle the chips that will enable better AI. These kinds of chips can be found in smart speakers that need AI to understand your words, or in servers that process facial images.
Apple, Qualcomm, and Huawei are making processors for phones with a focus on improving AI processing. Google and Intel are also actively exploring this area, and NVIDIA is investing billions to become a leader in this new area of chip manufacturing. Facebook may well tap into this get-together.
Zuckerberg's company has long been studying the possibilities of artificial intelligence and is trying to implement it on its social network. For example, Facebook's AI is fighting the so-called hate speech (or simply insults and trolling on the social network), and also tries to figure out which ad will suit you best. What's troubling is Facebook's inability to keep personal data locked up. New opportunities will lead to new risks.
Ilya Khel