Facebook Wants to Be More Than Just Friends With AI

Mark and Yann. Via Deccan Chronicle

Yann LeCun, Facebook’s chief AI scientist, told the FT that his company 1) is hard at work creating its own AI chips and 2) wants to create a street-smart digital assistant. Given that LeCun is one of the world’s top AI thought leaders, I stopped playing Fortnite to listen.

The AI chip race is heating up. Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Apple are all exploring their own chip designs. Nvidia, ARM, AMD, Intel, and IBM are also in the mix.

• These specialized chips are a no-brainer for AI-intensive work. They’re faster and more efficient than general-purpose processors.

LeCun said Facebook wants the chips for “smart digital assistants—something that has a level of common sense” and could converse about “any topic.” (He did hedge, noting it “won’t happen tomorrow.”)

At least for Facebook, AI chips could help automate content moderation and make their way into its fledgling line of hardware (e.g. the Portal). And good news, engineering wunderkinds: LeCun said FB would eventually make the chips open source.