Facebook’s AI Team Maps the Earth to Beam Internet Access

The social networking giant is working long hours to get its internet-beaming project moving.

Facebook wants to replicate Google’s Project Loon to beam the internet. (Photo: Facebook) 

Social networking giant Facebook is using its artificial intelligence (AI) technology and resources to map the entire Earth and launch the world’s most detailed population maps that will help beam cheap internet to remote areas.

To begin with, the Facebook AI team crunched 14.6 billion images of maps from across 20 countries, including India, covering 21.6 million sq km to come up with the first detailed map of human settlement for these countries.

The 20 countries mapped were Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Mexico, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

To create such maps, Facebook’s Connectivity Lab teamed up with the company’s AI group and data science team.

It obtained over 14.6 billion images of maps from Columbia University and the World Bank.