3 ms·

Meta reportedly laying off custom chip staff

35 points by DocFeind 3y ago

seeknotfind 3y ago
[flagged]
washadjeffmad 3y ago
[flagged]
- reaperman 3y ago
  Google has been successfully using their custom silicon. Apple as well. Meta's bet probably wasn't so misguided as to warrant this shallow criticism.
  - iaseiadit 3y ago
    Custom silicon has actual value for Apple and Google products. But Facebook? Add it to VR, Metaverse, Threads, etc. - what have they done lately that hasn’t been misguided?
    - arcticbull 3y ago
      They operate at an unbelievable scale. If they can tailor a part to their workload and save a fraction of a penny per request, it can absolutely pay off for them in a way it wouldn't for almost anyone else.
      - iaseiadit 3y ago
        Yet here we are.
        arcticbull 3y ago
        I'm not really sure this is proof of anything, other than interest rates moving the minimum bar for what is worth investing in. Custom silicon takes tons of time and investment, and carries high risk. If they were previously projecting even a 1-2% ROI, it made sense to do. Now they need an 8-10% ROI to justify the same project. Just because they can't get 8-10% out of their investment doesn't meant it's non-zero, or that it wasn't justified when cost of capital was much lower. [edit] people seem to think that just because they don't like Facebook it must be incompetent or ineffective. One glance at their financials should really dispel that notion.
      - upon_drumhead 3y ago
        According to the article, this layoff was targeted at the wearable custom chips. I think this is more a reaction to the Vision Pro and conceding the high end solutions to Apple.
  - arcticbull 3y ago
    Not to mention Amazon's Graviton family.
  - xwolfi 3y ago
    Remind me why they're called "meta" ? I think they're completely gone in terms of strategy. There's no more sense nor meaning to what they plan on doing.
  - oldWayz 3y ago
    [dead]
  - Analemma_ 3y ago
    > Google has been successfully using their custom silicon. Have they? Every review I’ve ever read of the Pixel phones says the phones are fine but the Tensor G* chips are a disappointment. And their TPU chips might be great, but they sure don’t seem to be helping Bard hold a candle to GPT-4.
photonbeam 3y ago
Its easier to justify cost of custom chips after you have a successful high volume product that uses something similar, but its a big gamble before that
theptip 3y ago
Writing on the wall for a while, eg https://www.theinformation.com/articles/meta-platforms-is-struggling-to-develop-its-own-device-chips https://www.theinformation.com/articles/meta-platforms-is-st... (2022)
sasaf5 3y ago
> "two sources familiar with the matter" as saying employees on the team, still known as Facebook Agile Silicon Team (FAST), were notified of layoffs yesterday via Meta's internal communication platform Workplace. "Agile Silicon". No wonder.
mathisfun123 3y ago
That's hilarious they literally just gave a talk about it at the Triton dev meeting last week https://youtu.be/ZtiiMHSWhw8?si=Lh45JmaXz_kZ2gmB https://youtu.be/ZtiiMHSWhw8?si=Lh45JmaXz_kZ2gmB Anyway I knew this thing was gonna tank - it's been in development for years with high turnover on the team (with most of the real work being done by contractors).

35 points by DocFeind 3y ago

seeknotfind 3y ago

[flagged]

washadjeffmad 3y ago

[flagged]

reaperman 3y ago
Google has been successfully using their custom silicon. Apple as well. Meta's bet probably wasn't so misguided as to warrant this shallow criticism.
- iaseiadit 3y ago
  Custom silicon has actual value for Apple and Google products. But Facebook? Add it to VR, Metaverse, Threads, etc. - what have they done lately that hasn’t been misguided?
  - arcticbull 3y ago
    They operate at an unbelievable scale. If they can tailor a part to their workload and save a fraction of a penny per request, it can absolutely pay off for them in a way it wouldn't for almost anyone else.
    - iaseiadit 3y ago
      Yet here we are.
      - arcticbull 3y ago
        I'm not really sure this is proof of anything, other than interest rates moving the minimum bar for what is worth investing in. Custom silicon takes tons of time and investment, and carries high risk. If they were previously projecting even a 1-2% ROI, it made sense to do. Now they need an 8-10% ROI to justify the same project. Just because they can't get 8-10% out of their investment doesn't meant it's non-zero, or that it wasn't justified when cost of capital was much lower. [edit] people seem to think that just because they don't like Facebook it must be incompetent or ineffective. One glance at their financials should really dispel that notion.
    - upon_drumhead 3y ago
      According to the article, this layoff was targeted at the wearable custom chips. I think this is more a reaction to the Vision Pro and conceding the high end solutions to Apple.
- arcticbull 3y ago
  Not to mention Amazon's Graviton family.
- xwolfi 3y ago
  Remind me why they're called "meta" ? I think they're completely gone in terms of strategy. There's no more sense nor meaning to what they plan on doing.
- oldWayz 3y ago
  [dead]
- Analemma_ 3y ago
  > Google has been successfully using their custom silicon. Have they? Every review I’ve ever read of the Pixel phones says the phones are fine but the Tensor G* chips are a disappointment. And their TPU chips might be great, but they sure don’t seem to be helping Bard hold a candle to GPT-4.

photonbeam 3y ago

Its easier to justify cost of custom chips after you have a successful high volume product that uses something similar, but its a big gamble before that

theptip 3y ago

Writing on the wall for a while, eg https://www.theinformation.com/articles/meta-platforms-is-struggling-to-develop-its-own-device-chips https://www.theinformation.com/articles/meta-platforms-is-st... (2022)

sasaf5 3y ago

> "two sources familiar with the matter" as saying employees on the team, still known as Facebook Agile Silicon Team (FAST), were notified of layoffs yesterday via Meta's internal communication platform Workplace. "Agile Silicon". No wonder.

mathisfun123 3y ago

That's hilarious they literally just gave a talk about it at the Triton dev meeting last week https://youtu.be/ZtiiMHSWhw8?si=Lh45JmaXz_kZ2gmB https://youtu.be/ZtiiMHSWhw8?si=Lh45JmaXz_kZ2gmB Anyway I knew this thing was gonna tank - it's been in development for years with high turnover on the team (with most of the real work being done by contractors).