TLDR
- Meta Platforms is partnering with Arm Holdings to power AI ranking and recommendation systems across Facebook and Instagram
- The social media company will use Arm-based data center platforms instead of traditional x86 architecture from Intel and AMD
- Arm-based systems promise higher performance and lower power consumption compared to x86 alternatives
- Meta is investing $1.5 billion in a Texas data center, marking its 29th facility globally
- Both companies are making their AI infrastructure software improvements open source for free public use
Meta Platforms announced a partnership with Arm Holdings to power the artificial intelligence systems behind content recommendations on Facebook and Instagram. The deal represents a shift away from traditional chip architecture.
The social media company will deploy Arm-based data center platforms to run its AI ranking and recommendation systems. These systems control what users see in their feeds across Meta’s apps.
Arm Holdings is backed by SoftBank and competes against x86 architecture. X86 is the established technology used by Intel and AMD in most data centers today.
Arm provides chip architecture that acts as a blueprint for central processing units. This blueprint determines what a CPU can do and which applications it can run.
The partnership claims Arm-based systems will deliver better performance while using less power than x86 systems. Power efficiency is a key concern for companies operating large data centers.
Arm-based chips already power most of the world’s smartphones. The technology is now expanding into personal computers and server CPUs, which have traditionally been Intel and AMD territory.
Data Center Investment
Meta announced a separate $1.5 billion investment in a Texas data center. The new facility will be Meta’s 29th data center worldwide.
The company is expanding its infrastructure to handle growing artificial intelligence workloads. More data centers are needed to support AI features across its platforms.
Open Source Development
Meta and Arm worked together to adapt Meta’s AI infrastructure software for Arm architectures. The companies are releasing these software improvements as open source code.
Anyone can access and use the software modifications for free. This open-source approach could help more companies adopt Arm-based systems.
Software compatibility has been a barrier to wider use of Arm architecture in data centers. Making the adapted software freely available addresses this challenge.
Both companies plan to continue developing and releasing improvements to these open-source projects. The ongoing collaboration aims to make Arm-based systems easier to implement.
The deal validates Arm’s technology for large-scale AI operations. Meta joins other major tech companies exploring alternatives to traditional x86 chip architecture.
