Rethinking AI Chips: How VSORA Redesigned the Hardware That Runs AI

Rethinking AI Chips: How VSORA Redesigned the Hardware That Runs AI
by Lauro Rizzatti on 09-16-2026 at 6:00 am

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Instead of tweaking existing designs, VSORA built an AI chip from scratch to fix the real bottleneck: moving data fast enough to keep the math circuits busy.

There’s a version of the AI hardware story that everyone in the chip industry has heard a hundred times. A startup raises money on a clever chip design, promises to topple… Read More


Unified Emulation and Prototyping: Pipedream or Reality?

Unified Emulation and Prototyping: Pipedream or Reality?
by Lauro Rizzatti on 09-03-2026 at 10:00 am

Unified Emulation and Prototyping Pipedream or Reality Figure 1

Preamble
Hardware-assisted verification (HAV) platforms, including hardware emulators and FPGA-based prototyping systems, are the two dominant methodologies for validating long workloads on complex System-on-Chip (SoC) designs before tape-out. HAV sits within a broader continuum of verification engines: simulationRead More


From Detection to Safety: Reframing Fault Simulation for Functional Safety

From Detection to Safety: Reframing Fault Simulation for Functional Safety
by Lauro Rizzatti on 07-06-2026 at 10:00 am

From Detection to Safety Figure 1

In the early 1980s, when computer-aided engineering (CAE), the precursor to modern electronic design automation (EDA), was just taking shape, my professional trajectory shifted in a way that would prove foundational. I joined Teradyne, the Boston-based leader in automated test equipment (ATE), and I encountered for the firstRead More


When Software Outruns Silicon: Hardware-Assisted Test Generation to the Rescue

When Software Outruns Silicon: Hardware-Assisted Test Generation to the Rescue
by Lauro Rizzatti on 06-29-2026 at 2:00 pm

When Software Outruns Silicon Figure 1

For the past decade, the semiconductor industry has been moving in one direction: shift-left, specifically, shifting more validation into the pre-silicon phase. The idea was straightforward: if software ultimately determines how a system behaves, then software should become a primary vehicle for verification.

The industry… Read More


The Great Divide: A Tale of Three Hardware Emulation Architectures

The Great Divide: A Tale of Three Hardware Emulation Architectures
by Lauro Rizzatti on 05-06-2026 at 10:00 am

A Tale of Three Hardware Emulation Architectures

Hardware emulation arose as a necessity out of the needs of the eighties. By the mid-1980s, semiconductor designs had outgrown the practical limits of gate-level simulation. Gate-level simulation delivered accuracy, but at glacial pace; silicon prototypes performed at real-speed but arrived far too late. The industry needed… Read More


From Wooden Boards to White Gloves: How FPGA Prototyping and Emulation Became Two Worlds of Verification… and How the Convergence Is Unfolding

From Wooden Boards to White Gloves: How FPGA Prototyping and Emulation Became Two Worlds of Verification… and How the Convergence Is Unfolding
by Lauro Rizzatti on 04-13-2026 at 6:00 am

From Wooden Boards to White Gloves Table 1 (1)

FPGA prototyping and hardware emulation originated from two independent demands that emerged at roughly the same time, namely, the necessity to implement digital designs in reconfigurable hardware. This was conceivable given the newly introduced field programmable gate array (FPGA) device.

Yet from the very beginning they… Read More


An AI-Native Architecture That Eliminates GPU Inefficiencies

An AI-Native Architecture That Eliminates GPU Inefficiencies
by Lauro Rizzatti on 02-26-2026 at 6:00 am

VSORA SemiWiki 2026

A recent analysis highlighted by MIT Technology Review puts the energy cost of generative AI into stark perspective. Generating a simple text response from Llama 3.1-405B—a model with 405 billion parameters, the adjustable “knobs” that enable prediction—requires on average 3,353 joules, nearly 1 watt-hour (Wh). Once cooling… Read More


Hardware is the Center of the Universe (Again)

Hardware is the Center of the Universe (Again)
by Lauro Rizzatti on 02-23-2026 at 10:00 am

Hardware is the Center of the Universe (Again) Figure 1

The 40-Year Evolution of Hardware-Assisted Verification — From In-Circuit Emulation to AI-Era Full-Stack Validation

For more than a decade, Hardware-Assisted Verification platforms have been the centerpiece of the verification toolbox. Today, no serious semiconductor program reaches tapeout without emulation or FPGA-prototyping… Read More


VSORA Board Chair Sandra Rivera on Solutions for AI Inference and LLM Processing

VSORA Board Chair Sandra Rivera on Solutions for AI Inference and LLM Processing
by Lauro Rizzatti on 02-09-2026 at 6:00 am

Sandra Rivera VISORA

Sandra Rivera, a Silicon Valley veteran who is the former CEO of Altera, an Intel FPGA spinout, and long-time Intel executive, recently became Chair of the Board of Directors of Paris-based VSORA. VSORA, a technology leader redefining AI inference for next-generation data centers, cloud infrastructure and edge, is focused … Read More


Lessons from the DeepChip Wars: What a Decade-old Debate Teaches Us About Tech Evolution

Lessons from the DeepChip Wars: What a Decade-old Debate Teaches Us About Tech Evolution
by Lauro Rizzatti on 11-10-2025 at 10:00 am

Lessons from the DeepChip wars Table

The competitive landscape of hardware-assisted verification (HAV) has evolved dramatically over the past decade. The strategic drivers that once defined the market have shifted in step with the rapidly changing dynamics of semiconductor design.

Design complexity has soared, with modern SoCs now integrating tens of billions… Read More