China Unveils AI System for Chip Design
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Researchers in China have introduced what they claim is the world’s first AI-driven processor chip design system, aiming to accelerate chip development amid growing tech restrictions.
A multidisciplinary team at the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed and tested an AI-based chip design platform named QiMeng.
Details of the system were published on the arXiv preprint server.
Traditional chip design has relied on large teams of experts translating performance goals into physical chip layouts, a process known for its high cost and slow pace.
To streamline development, the Chinese team used a large language model (LLM) to convert user-specified performance requirements into architectural chip designs and generate compatible software.
The project reportedly began in response to external pressures, as China faces tightening access to foreign chip technologies.
QiMeng integrates three core components: a domain-specific chip model, a design agent, and a suite of design applications.
The system learns from extensive databases of existing chip technologies to understand architecture and function.
Initial outputs from QiMeng include processors comparable to Intel's 486 and Arm’s Cortex A53—older models that no longer match modern standards.
Despite this, researchers believe the system will rapidly improve and eventually produce advanced chips at a fraction of current development costs and timelines.
