Facebook – The Social Networking Giant has opened a new artificial intelligence lab in Paris with an objective of enhancing the way the users associate with the world’s largest social network. This is the third such lab in the world set up by Facebook after two operating labs in the US.
Currently there are six researchers at work in this new lab and will double by the end of the year as told by the executives from the US based company. The new team in Paris will work intently with the existing Facebook AI Research teams in New York and Menlo Park on natural language processing, image recognition, machine learning, speech recognition, live translating tools and much more.
The company has set up a collaborative agreement with a leading research institute in Paris – The French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation which will open new joint study opportunities for Ph.D. students, talented research professionals and postdoctoral researchers.
Mike Shroepfer, Facebook’s chief technology officer said that Artificial Intelligence is the central pillar for the company’s long-term investments, which includes global connectivity and immersive computing experiences. It’s an incredible approach to build smarter products, boost engagement with existing products and adding features to learn more about Facebook users.
Millions of photos are uploaded to Facebook daily, joining hundreds of billions already saved on users’ pages and in albums. Facebook hopes that this research will help them make services like photos, news feed and search better than before and enable an entirely new set of ways to connect and share.
LeCun a renowned French professor at New York University, said image and video recognition is the “next frontier” at Facebook.
Facebook, Google, Amazon and other technology companies are scrambling to push the limits of artificial intelligence and in that effort they are stocking their own research centers with aspiring Ph.D. candidates.