Meta, the social media giant, is reportedly in talks to acquire FuriosaAI, a South Korean chip firm, as part of its efforts to bolster its artificial intelligence (AI) hardware infrastructure. According to Forbes, Meta may announce its intent to purchase the chip startup as soon as this month.

FuriosaAI, founded by former Samsung and AMD employees, specializes in developing chips that speed up the running and serving of AI models, including text-generating models like Meta's Llama 2 and Llama 3. The acquisition would provide Meta with a significant boost in its AI capabilities, allowing it to process and serve AI models more efficiently.

To date, FuriosaAI has raised 90 billion Korean won (around $61.94 million) from investors, including South Korean tech company Naver, according to Crunchbase. The company has previously stated that it is engaged with unnamed potential customers in the U.S., Japan, and India, indicating its potential for growth and expansion.

Meta's move is likely an effort to reduce its reliance on dominant chipmaker Nvidia, which has been a key player in the AI chip market. By acquiring FuriosaAI, Meta would gain control over its AI hardware infrastructure, allowing it to develop more customized and efficient AI accelerator chips. This would complement Meta's in-house attempts to build efficient AI accelerator chips, which are critical to its AI goals.

Meta recently announced that it expects to spend up to $65 billion this year to power its AI goals, making this acquisition a strategic move to support its ambitious plans. The acquisition would also provide Meta with a competitive edge in the AI market, allowing it to develop more advanced AI models and services.

The acquisition of FuriosaAI would have significant implications for the AI industry, as it would mark a major shift in the balance of power in the AI chip market. It would also demonstrate Meta's commitment to investing in AI research and development, which could lead to breakthroughs in areas such as natural language processing, computer vision, and machine learning.

In conclusion, Meta's reported acquisition of FuriosaAI is a significant development in the AI industry, highlighting the company's commitment to investing in AI research and development. As the AI market continues to evolve, this acquisition could have far-reaching implications for the industry, and it will be interesting to see how it unfolds in the coming months.