Facebook Taps 'Deep Learning' Giant for New AI Lab

Facebook is building a research lab dedicated to the new breed of artificial intelligence, after hiring one of the preeminent researchers in the field: New York University professor Yann LeCun. "Facebook has created a new research laboratory with the ambitious, long-term goal of bringing about major advances in Artificial Intelligence," LeCun wrote, adding that Facebook's AI lab will include operations in Menlo Park, California, at the company's headquarters; in London; and at Facebook's new offices in New York City. In the past, for instance, something like the Google's Search engine has tried to approximate human intelligence by rapidly analyzing enormous amounts of data, but people like LeCun aim to build massive "neutral networks" that actually mimic the way the brain works. Andrew Ng, the Stanford researcher who founded Google's deep learning project, known as the Google Brain, says that LeCun and Facebook are a natural fit.