Facebook Opens a New Artificial Intelligence Research Hub In Paris

By Kamal Nayan - 02 Jun '15 13:43PM

Facebook has opened the third artificial intelligence research hub in Paris. The aim of the newly opened research hub will be to tap into a large European talent pool.

"It will create opportunities for researchers in France and create an ecosystem around Facebook, where startups will work on similar topics," said Yann LeCun, Facebook's head of AI research.

Facebook has hired six researchers for its Paris AI lab, WSJ reported. The company has been religiously investing in once-niche field of artificial intelligence since late 2013.

Reportedly, a total of 40 to 50 people work in the AI research hub of New York and Menlo Park, Calif.

"We found a lot of people, not only in Paris but all around Europe, who are doing interesting work, some of whom didn't want to join us in New York or Menlo Park, and so it's an opportunity for people all over Europe interested in working with Facebook, but may not want to move out of this area," Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer said.Schroepfer said.

More than two billion photos are shared daily across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp and the amount of user generated data could be one impetus for the company.