Apple's (AAPL, Financial) Senior Vice President of Hardware Technologies, Johny Srouji, has announced the company's intention to leverage generative artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate the design of its custom chips. Srouji made these remarks while receiving an award from Imec, a prominent semiconductor research group.
During his speech, Srouji highlighted Apple's journey in chip customization, from the A4 chip in the 2010 iPhone to the latest chips in Mac desktops and Vision Pro headsets. He emphasized the importance of using cutting-edge tools, including the latest software from electronic design automation (EDA) companies, for chip design.
Major EDA companies like Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) and Synopsys (SNPS) are racing to integrate AI into their products. Srouji noted that EDA companies are crucial in supporting Apple's chip design efforts. The potential of generative AI to significantly enhance productivity by completing more design work in less time was also highlighted.
Another key lesson Apple learned in its chip design journey is to commit boldly without fallback plans. This was evident when Apple transitioned its Mac computers from Intel chips to its own in 2020, a move made without contingency plans, demonstrating full commitment.
