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Add Fb to the record of firms that may very well be attempting to cut back its dependence on Intel and Qualcomm. In accordance with The Information, the social media big is growing a set of {custom} chips for its knowledge facilities. One of many processors is reportedly designed to energy machine studying duties, together with the algorithm that handles Fb’s content material suggestions, whereas one other would help in transcoding movies to enhance the standard of livestreamed movies.
Along with serving to cut back its dependence on exterior chipmakers, the transfer to {custom} silicon might assist Fb decrease the carbon footprint of its knowledge facilities. The brand new chips would work alongside the third-party processors the corporate at present makes use of in its servers, and reportedly aren’t meant to fully substitute what it already has.
“Fb is at all times exploring methods to drive larger ranges of compute efficiency and energy effectivity with our silicon companions and thru our personal inside efforts,” a spokesperson for the corporate advised Engadget after we reached out to the corporate in regards to the report. “We’ve nothing new to share on our future plans right now.”
It wouldn’t be a stretch for Fb to dip its toes in {custom} silicon. The corporate has already dabbled in semi-custom chips. In 2019, for example, it announced it was engaged on an application-specific built-in circuit (ASIC) for video transcoding and inference work. It additionally would not be the primary firm to take a look at designing its personal chips to enhance effectivity and save on prices. Google has had its Tensor chips since 2016, and, as of final yr, Microsoft was reportedly exploring custom chips for its personal servers as nicely.
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