Facebook is reportedly working on a competitor to the buzzy new social media app Clubhouse

• Facebook is working on a competitor to the buzzy social app Clubhouse, the New York Times reports.
• The project reportedly intends to replicate the core function of Clubhouse: audio-based chatrooms.
• Notably, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared on Clubhouse this past week.

Facebook has a team working on a new project that aims to replicate the core functionality of the buzzy new social media app, Clubhouse, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

The Facebook project is intended to create audio-based chat rooms for users, the report said, but it's still in the early stages.

The buzzy new social media app du jour, Clubhouse, quickly leapt from obscurity to notoriety in recent weeks, as big names like Elon Musk and even Mark Zuckerberg himself joined the service and participated in live chats.

Clubhouse's key functionality is voice-based communication: Users join group voice-chat rooms. Though Twitter has a similar function named Spaces, it hasn't caught on like Clubhouse has.

Clubhouse is invite-only, but it's expected to open up to everyone in the near future.

Read more: I caved and tried Clubhouse, a 10-month-old startup with a $1 billion valuation. I'm not sure I'll use it, but at least now I get what all the fuss is about.

Though Facebook has yet to officially confirm such a project, there's a long history of Facebook replicating key features of its rivals through Facebook and Facebook's subsidiaries.

Instagram Stories, for instance, is largely a re-creation of a similar function on Snapchat. Instagram itself was an acquisition, as was WhatsApp. And Instagram's "Reels" functionality is intended to rival TikTok, another buzzy social media app.

"We've been connecting people through audio and video technologies for many years," a Facebook representative told Insider, "and are always exploring new ways to improve that experience for people."