Synopsys is a top electronic design automation firm focused on silicon design, verification, and software security. Their tools are key to creating modern chips and embedded software, driving devices from smartphones to vehicles.
Chip design is highly intricate, often taking months or years, requiring coordination among thousands of engineers. Now, AI advancements are transforming the field by lessening manual work, speeding up timelines, and enabling new design opportunities.
Thomas Andersen is the VP of AI and Machine Learning at Synopsys, with over 15 years at the company. He discusses AI’s evolving role in hardware design with Kevin Ball, including challenges in training models on undocumented engineering knowledge, the rise of domain-specific LLMs, and future directions for this rapidly evolving field.
Kevin Ball, or KBall, is the VP of engineering at Mento and an independent coach for engineers and leaders. He co-founded and served as CTO for two companies, founded the San Diego JavaScript meetup, and organizes the AI inaction discussion group through Latent Space.