AI was everywhere at DAC 2026, so I stopped by the booth of Rise Design Automation to chat with Ellie Burns to hear what’s new this year. Ellie shared that Rise DA has added a new AI-powered flow to go from specification to a High Level Synthesis (HLS) model, to a RTL model. The reason for using a HLS model is to gain much more simulation… Read More
DAC 2026: A Discussion of Who Owns the Intelligence Behind Tomorrow’s Chips and How to Make it BetterThe industry is moving from simple documentation chatbots…Read More
How Agentic AI Turns IC Engineers into ArchitectsThere is an interesting article by Kexun ZHang…Read More
Follow the Money – Agentrys Raises $24.5 Million to Build Agentic Design AutomationAgentrys recently launched a new category of design…Read More
Intel’s 14A Is Winning the Race Against DefectsIntel’s next-generation 14A manufacturing process is showing unusually…Read MoreChipAgents Leads the AI Revolution at DAC 2026
I believe this year’s DAC will be viewed as the time and place where EDA experienced a major shift. That is, the shift from the value of tools and methodology to the value of agentic design flows powered by highly trained agents. The design community will clearly need the tools and methodologies that have occupied DAC for years. But… Read More
Podcast EP360: IDA Ireland’s Role to Expand Ireland’s Footprint Across the Semiconductor Ecosystem with Anne-Marie Tierney
Daniel is joined by Anne-Marie Tierney, Divisional Manager at IDA Ireland. Anne-Marie has 24 years’ experience in the global investment environment with IDA Ireland, working across several key roles in Ireland and abroad, positioning Ireland for high impact investments, with a specific interest in semiconductors. Prior … Read More
A 0.42-Nanometer Breakthrough From TSMC Could Push Transistors Beyond Silicon
Researchers at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University and TSMC Corporate Research engineered a 0.42-nanometer aluminum-oxide interface that protects electron transport in monolayer MoS₂ transistors while enabling strong gate control.
Silicon transistors are approaching physical limits that make each new generation… Read More
ASML’s Path to Lithography Dominance—and the Coming Maskless Revolution
ASML’s dominance was not born from a single invention. It emerged from four decades of systems engineering, supplier orchestration, and repeated bets on lithographic transitions that competitors judged too expensive. Founded in 1984 as a Philips–ASM joint venture, the Dutch company first differentiated itself with modular… Read More
Bronco AI Webinar: Full-Chip SoC Debug in 15 Minutes
A single bug on a full-chip SoC can pull engineers off roadmap work for days or even weeks. It involves massive waveforms, thousands of files of RTL and UVM, and dense specs that aren’t always perfect. Finding these bugs have always been a matter of engineer-hours and how well knowledge diffuses through the organization.
Bronco … Read More
Tuple Technologies at DAC 2026
At #DAC2026 I met with Vamshi Kothur at Tuple Technologies to see how their cloud infrastructure products help IC design teams get their chip designs to market more quickly without the overhead of big IT and CAD teams. Tuple was founded in 2017 and has grown to about 45 people, headquartered in New Jersey. The challenge of using complex… Read More
CEO Interview with Jerry Chen of Upbeat Technology
Jerry Chen, CEO and Founder of Upbeat Technology, received his Master of Science in ECE from the University of Texas at Austin. Started working as an IC design engineer in Silicon Valley at Intel, Lucent, Apple, and Procket Network since 1995. Later transitioned into Technical Marketing roles, serving as Director of Marketing… Read More
Using Claude AI for Chip Design
After speaking with dozens of semiconductor professionals at the Design Automation Conference in Long Beach about AI in the chip-design workflow, Claude emerged as the common denominator in every conversation. We’re still at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to using AI in the design flow. If management is pushing your team … Read More
Micron Advanced Memory Portfolio Positioned for AI Infrastructure Expansion
Micron Technology has emerged as a critical supplier in the AI compute ecosystem, leveraging its leadership in advanced DRAM, High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), and NAND flash technologies to address rapidly growing demand from hyperscale data centers and AI accelerator platforms. The company’s strategic focus on leading-edge… Read More


Five Billion Pulses Later: What DUV Optics Testing Reveals About Semiconductor Tool Uptime