Apple is interested in tapping generative artificial intelligence to help speed up the design of the custom chips at the heart of its devices, according to Reuters.
Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware technologies, made the remarks in a speech in Belgium, where he was receiving an award from Imec, an independent semiconductor research and development group that works closely with most of the world’s biggest chipmakers.
In the speech, a recording of which was reviewed by Reuters, Srouji outlined Apple’s development of custom chips from the first A4 chip in an iPhone in 2010 to the most recent chips that power Macs and the Vision Pro headset. He said one of the key lessons Apple learned was that it needed to use the most cutting-edge tools available to design its chips, including the latest chip design software from electronic design automation (EDA) firms.
As noted by 9to5Mac, Srouji’s remarks don’t come as a big surprise, as other companies have also been exploring how generative AI could accelerate silicon design.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) refers to AI models that can create new content, such as text, images, audio, and even code, based on patterns learned from existing data. Unlike traditional AI that focuses on analysis or prediction, generative AI is designed to generate novel outputs that mimic the characteristics of the data it was trained on.
And an EDA firm is one that specializes in electronic design automation. Such firms provide software, hardware, and services to help design, simulate, verify, and manufacture electronic systems like integrated circuits and printed circuit boards.
