Google has acquired GPU driver testing firm GraphicsFuzz, according to a recent announcement from the latter. The news comes as rumors continue to surface about whether or not Google plans to enter the gaming space more directly with its own Android-based console but that doesn’t seem to be the intention here. Instead, the team behind GraphicsFuzz, including Alastair Donaldson, Hugues Evrard, and Paul Thomson, will basically be absorbed into the Android Graphics Team at Google. It may still be possible that the end goal is to use the experience and knowledge of those individuals to the above-mentioned end. For now, the focus appears to be on Android in general. GraphicsFuzz is known for its bug-finding and fixing fuzzing and metamorphic testing technology. That has already been used to discover vulnerabilities and issues within a wide diversity of Android handsets in the past. However, the announcement from GraphicsFuzz indicates that the initial work will center around incorporating graphics driver testing technology into Android itself at the system level.
The implication of that would be that Android OEMs and software testing, in general, could be made much more efficient. If testing for bugs and vulnerabilities in graphics drivers is performed within the Android OS, the system would be able to find those more readily. In particular, those could be conducted at the system level and by default rather having to depend on an organization or manufacturer testing for vulnerabilities individually, one at a time. That would be a powerful addition to Android in terms of both performance and stability, particularly when it comes to the highly-valued mobile gaming side of the equation.
With that said, that isn’t at all the only way the solution could be integrated and it may take some time before the purpose of the acquisition becomes apparent. In the meantime, the announcement doesn’t reveal whether or not GraphicsFuzz will continue its other operations as normal. The company was also responsible for testing of desktop graphics component drivers prior to the acquisition but that may be brought to a halt. Not only could improved drivers assist in mobile gaming. GPUs are also especially well suited to providing the underpinnings of A.I.-related processing. Given that machine learning is a primary focus for the search giant, Google may bring those other operations to a halt as it seeks to bolster the reliability and performance of its mobile OS across the board.