Latest news with #Cognichip
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cognichip emerges from stealth with the goal of using generative AI to develop new chips
Chips are a critical component of the AI industry. But new chips don't hit the market with the same speed as new AI models and products do. Cognichip has a lofty goal of creating a foundational AI model that can help bring new chips to market faster. San Francisco-based Cognichip is working to build a physics-informed foundational AI model that can be used by semiconductor companies to speed up the development process of new chips. The company is calling this approach "artificial chip intelligence" and hopes it can help speed up chip production times by 50% and reduce the associated costs as well. This ambitious idea comes from semiconductor industry veteran Faraj Aalaei, who worked at various companies including Fujitsu Network Communications and Centillium Communications. Aalaei told TechCrunch that his company's origin story begins back in 2015. At the time, Aalaei was a member of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, which would often meet to talk about what was ailing their industry. He was growing concerned about what was happening in the semiconductor industry. He gave a presentation to the group about the stark drop in venture capital investing into semiconductor companies, which peaked at 200 deals a year in 2000, he said, and dropped to just one or two a year by 2015. "I essentially warned the other CEOs that this cannot be good for us," Aalaei said. "It cannot be good for the semiconductor industry in America, and that what we needed to do is to fundamentally change things about it. If that trend continues, then we're going to lose our competitiveness. We're going to lose the energy that brings in new ideas to the table." Considering how long it takes new chips to come to market, it's not surprising these companies weren't attracting venture investors, he said. Then he sat on the idea for almost a decade. He went on to found Candou Ventures in 2016, and through that fund got to watch the rise in AI startups. When he realized that advancements in generative AI had gotten to a point where it could be used to potentially help solve some of the semiconductor industry's existent challenges, he decided to launch Cognichip in 2024. Cognichip has been operating in stealth ever since and has amassed a team of AI experts from places like Stanford, Google, and MIT to start building. Aalaei said it will take at least a few years to build the model to "ultimate performance" but said it should be able to help companies before it reaches that goal. "When we get to that point, this artificial chip intelligence, we will be building a system that can actually act like an expert engineer," Aalaei said. "Once we achieve that vision, then you can actually get the same work done with a fraction of the people and in much, much shorter time." Cognichip is now emerging from stealth with $33 million in seed funding in a round co-led by Lux Capital and Mayfield with participation from FPV and Candou Ventures. Navin Chaddha, a managing partner at Mayfield, told TechCrunch that when he was introduced to Aalaei, he felt they were "cut from the same cloth." The vast majority of work in the semiconductor industry is still being done by humans; he said he thinks the timing is right to bring AI into the mix. "This is a major pain point, and the solution this company will provide will be a pain killer and not a vitamin for the semiconductor industry," Chaddha said. "If you don't have humans doing the job, can AI do it where there's shortage of talent? Number one, great team, second, [they are] solving a real pain point in a massive, trillion-dollar industry." Aalaei said that he hopes Cognichip will also be able to help democratize access to building chips so that more semiconductor companies can get started and land investment. Easier access also means that smaller companies can build more specific chips for specialized or smaller models, too, he said. All of this will depend on when, or if, the company can reach artificial chip intelligence. "What we're doing is not some incremental change," Aalaei said. "We're not building an [electronic design automation] tool, we're not trying to tweak the process a little bit. We're trying to set a new goal for our industry and bring some major change." This article originally appeared on TechCrunch at Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Wire
15-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Cognichip Launches out of Stealth with $33M in Seed Funding to Deliver Artificial Chip Intelligence – ACI®
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Cognichip, the company pioneering Artificial Chip Intelligence (ACI®) to power the future of semiconductor design, today announced its launch out of stealth with $33 million in seed funding. Led by Lux Capital and Mayfield, with support from FPV and Candou Ventures, Cognichip is pioneering the first physics-informed foundational model (PIFM) for semiconductors, designed to drastically accelerate development timelines, reduce costs, and enable the next wave of AI innovation. Not Just Faster, Cheaper, Better: The New Industry Scaling Factor Founded by experts from Amazon, Google, Apple, Synopsys, Aquantia, and KLA, Cognichip is tackling two major challenges in semiconductor development: high cost and inaccessibility. Chip design today is time-consuming and expensive, often taking 3-5 years and over $100M before reaching production. Traditional approaches, which rely on throwing more money, compute power, and people at the problem, are no longer sustainable. This is especially concerning given the projected shortage of 1 million skilled workers by 2030 – a workforce gap that threatens to constrain the industry's estimated growth in sales to its projected $1 trillion potential [ Deloitte ]. Cognichip is building ACI® to address these issues, making chip design faster, easier, and more accessible. 'Our vision is to fundamentally reshape the economics of semiconductor design,' said Faraj Aalaei, CEO and Founder of Cognichip. 'As a founder who has successfully taken two semiconductor companies public, and as a venture capitalist, I have seen firsthand how semiconductor startups are often deemed 'unfundable' due to high costs and long timelines. With the rise of Generative AI, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rethink how chips are designed. I founded Cognichip to disrupt the outdated chip design process and to make semiconductor innovation scalable, secure, and accessible to aspiring future pioneers of our industry. To tackle this massive task, we have assembled a pioneer-minded team stacked with AI scientists with world-class credentials, brilliant chip design veterans, and the best-of-breed enterprise software developers.' Introducing Artificial Chip Intelligence – ACI® Cognichip's ACI® introduces a breakthrough, physics-informed AI foundation model, purposely built for semiconductor design. ACI® fundamentally rethinks 40 years of traditional, serial chip development with a modern, AI-first, conversational design approach, leveraging large-scale, secure, accelerated compute infrastructures. From individuals to enterprises, ACI® allows engineering teams to work more efficiently and cost-effectively, elevating artificial intelligence as the new scaling factor for the semiconductor industry. Key benefits of ACI® include: 50% faster design cycles: Reduces time from concept to production through concurrent local and global optimization 75% reduction in development costs: Dramatically reduces the effort and expertise required to develop and test chips Improved power, performance, and efficiency: Eliminates unnecessary bloating by bringing products closer to requirements and continuously optimizing for area and power Enhanced flexibility: Adapts easily to changes in market demands and product variations, minimizing costly redesigns Simplified scalability: Enables rapid creation of new product variants to meet market demands for flexible portfolio management Beyond efficiency, ACI® brings much-needed flexibility to the supply chain. Traditionally, switching chip manufacturers or modifying production processes requires extensive redesign efforts. Cognichip's interoperable ACI® solution eliminates this friction, enabling seamless scaling, reducing supply chain risks, and allowing companies to plan for future growth with greater agility. 'The semiconductor industry is at a critical inflection point, with traditional design methods becoming increasingly unsustainable amid escalating costs and a looming talent shortage. What excites us is how Cognichip is fundamentally transforming the economics and speed of semiconductor design through their Artificial Chip Intelligence,' said Navin Chaddha, Managing Partner at Mayfield. "We are excited to partner with Faraj Aalaei and the Cognichip team as they democratize access to semiconductor innovation and build something truly revolutionary that will power tomorrow's AI infrastructure.' 'Cognichip is introducing a new scaling factor for semiconductors: intelligence. By embedding AI deep into the physics of chip design, they are accelerating innovation in a way that traditional scaling could never achieve, said Shahin Farshchi, Partner at Lux Capita l. 'We believe Cognichip's approach will reshape the foundation of the semiconductor industry for decades to come." 'Collapsing the traditional barriers of chip design is not only a turning point for the semiconductor industry; it stands to benefit the entire global technology economy,' said Pegah Ebrahimi Co-Founder and Managing Partner at FPV Ventures. 'Silicon Valley was put on the map because of the semi companies that were born here, and I'm thrilled to back a team of exceptional veterans reshaping yet again the future of semiconductor design by making advanced compute solutions more accessible to any player. Cognichip will accelerate breakthroughs across AI, energy, healthcare, and every industry where progress depends on smarter, cheaper, more efficient hardware.' To learn more about Cognichip or to join their mission, visit About Cognichip Cognichip is developing the world's first Artificial Chip Intelligence (ACI®) to reimagine chip design. Founded by experts from Amazon, Google, Apple, Aquantia, Synopsys, and KLA, the company tackles high cost and inaccessibility in chip development, enabling hardware to evolve as quickly as software innovation. Backed by $33 million in seed funding from Mayfield, Lux Capital, FPV, and Candou Ventures, Cognichip's ACI® reduces design cycles by 50%, cuts development costs by 75%, and optimizes power, performance, and efficiency. ACI® accelerates innovation and broadens access to semiconductor technology by making it easier, more affordable, and accessible to a broader range of innovators. Learn more at
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cognichip Launches out of Stealth with $33M in Seed Funding to Deliver Artificial Chip Intelligence – ACI®
Backed by Lux Capital, Mayfield, FPV, and Candou Ventures, Cognichip aims to modernize chip design by introducing the first-of-its-kind, physics-informed AI foundation model for semiconductors Cognichip's technology achieves Artificial Chip Intelligence (ACI®), a type of artificial intelligence that understands, learns, and solves chip design problems with designer-level cognitive abilities ACI® fundamentally reshapes the economics of semiconductors, bringing a 75% reduction in development cost, 50% faster completion, and eliminating excessive chip size and power, making chip design easier, more accessible, and sustainable SAN FRANCISCO, May 15, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cognichip, the company pioneering Artificial Chip Intelligence (ACI®) to power the future of semiconductor design, today announced its launch out of stealth with $33 million in seed funding. Led by Lux Capital and Mayfield, with support from FPV and Candou Ventures, Cognichip is pioneering the first physics-informed foundational model (PIFM) for semiconductors, designed to drastically accelerate development timelines, reduce costs, and enable the next wave of AI innovation. Not Just Faster, Cheaper, Better: The New Industry Scaling Factor Founded by experts from Amazon, Google, Apple, Synopsys, Aquantia, and KLA, Cognichip is tackling two major challenges in semiconductor development: high cost and inaccessibility. Chip design today is time-consuming and expensive, often taking 3-5 years and over $100M before reaching production. Traditional approaches, which rely on throwing more money, compute power, and people at the problem, are no longer sustainable. This is especially concerning given the projected shortage of 1 million skilled workers by 2030 – a workforce gap that threatens to constrain the industry's estimated growth in sales to its projected $1 trillion potential [Deloitte]. Cognichip is building ACI® to address these issues, making chip design faster, easier, and more accessible. "Our vision is to fundamentally reshape the economics of semiconductor design," said Faraj Aalaei, CEO and Founder of Cognichip. "As a founder who has successfully taken two semiconductor companies public, and as a venture capitalist, I have seen firsthand how semiconductor startups are often deemed 'unfundable' due to high costs and long timelines. With the rise of Generative AI, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rethink how chips are designed. I founded Cognichip to disrupt the outdated chip design process and to make semiconductor innovation scalable, secure, and accessible to aspiring future pioneers of our industry. To tackle this massive task, we have assembled a pioneer-minded team stacked with AI scientists with world-class credentials, brilliant chip design veterans, and the best-of-breed enterprise software developers." Introducing Artificial Chip Intelligence – ACI® Cognichip's ACI® introduces a breakthrough, physics-informed AI foundation model, purposely built for semiconductor design. ACI® fundamentally rethinks 40 years of traditional, serial chip development with a modern, AI-first, conversational design approach, leveraging large-scale, secure, accelerated compute infrastructures. From individuals to enterprises, ACI® allows engineering teams to work more efficiently and cost-effectively, elevating artificial intelligence as the new scaling factor for the semiconductor industry. Key benefits of ACI® include: 50% faster design cycles: Reduces time from concept to production through concurrent local and global optimization 75% reduction in development costs: Dramatically reduces the effort and expertise required to develop and test chips Improved power, performance, and efficiency: Eliminates unnecessary bloating by bringing products closer to requirements and continuously optimizing for area and power Enhanced flexibility: Adapts easily to changes in market demands and product variations, minimizing costly redesigns Simplified scalability: Enables rapid creation of new product variants to meet market demands for flexible portfolio management Beyond efficiency, ACI® brings much-needed flexibility to the supply chain. Traditionally, switching chip manufacturers or modifying production processes requires extensive redesign efforts. Cognichip's interoperable ACI® solution eliminates this friction, enabling seamless scaling, reducing supply chain risks, and allowing companies to plan for future growth with greater agility. "The semiconductor industry is at a critical inflection point, with traditional design methods becoming increasingly unsustainable amid escalating costs and a looming talent shortage. What excites us is how Cognichip is fundamentally transforming the economics and speed of semiconductor design through their Artificial Chip Intelligence," said Navin Chaddha, Managing Partner at Mayfield. "We are excited to partner with Faraj Aalaei and the Cognichip team as they democratize access to semiconductor innovation and build something truly revolutionary that will power tomorrow's AI infrastructure." "Cognichip is introducing a new scaling factor for semiconductors: intelligence. By embedding AI deep into the physics of chip design, they are accelerating innovation in a way that traditional scaling could never achieve, said Shahin Farshchi, Partner at Lux Capital. "We believe Cognichip's approach will reshape the foundation of the semiconductor industry for decades to come." "Collapsing the traditional barriers of chip design is not only a turning point for the semiconductor industry; it stands to benefit the entire global technology economy," said Pegah Ebrahimi Co-Founder and Managing Partner at FPV Ventures. "Silicon Valley was put on the map because of the semi companies that were born here, and I'm thrilled to back a team of exceptional veterans reshaping yet again the future of semiconductor design by making advanced compute solutions more accessible to any player. Cognichip will accelerate breakthroughs across AI, energy, healthcare, and every industry where progress depends on smarter, cheaper, more efficient hardware." To learn more about Cognichip or to join their mission, visit About Cognichip Cognichip is developing the world's first Artificial Chip Intelligence (ACI®) to reimagine chip design. Founded by experts from Amazon, Google, Apple, Aquantia, Synopsys, and KLA, the company tackles high cost and inaccessibility in chip development, enabling hardware to evolve as quickly as software innovation. Backed by $33 million in seed funding from Mayfield, Lux Capital, FPV, and Candou Ventures, Cognichip's ACI® reduces design cycles by 50%, cuts development costs by 75%, and optimizes power, performance, and efficiency. ACI® accelerates innovation and broadens access to semiconductor technology by making it easier, more affordable, and accessible to a broader range of innovators. Learn more at View source version on Contacts Media Contact: Rick LieblingVSC on behalf of Cognichiprickl@
TechCrunch
15-05-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
Cognichip emerges from stealth with the goal of using generative AI to develop new chips
Chips are a critical component of the AI industry. But new chips don't hit the market with the same speed as new AI models and products do. Cognichip has a lofty goal of creating a foundational AI model that can help bring new chips to market faster. San Francisco-based Cognichip is working to build a physics-informed foundational AI model that can be used by semiconductor companies to speed up the development process of new chips. The company is calling this approach 'artificial chip intelligence' and hopes it can help speed up chip production times by 50% and reduce the associated costs as well. This ambitious idea comes from semiconductor industry veteran Faraj Aalaei, who worked at various companies including Fujitsu Network Communications and Centillium Communications. Aalaei told TechCrunch that his company's origin story begins back in 2015. At the time, Aalaei was a member of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, which would often meet to talk about what was ailing their industry. He was growing concerned about what was happening in the semiconductor industry. He gave a presentation to the group about the stark drop in venture capital investing into semiconductor companies, which peaked at 200 deals a year in 2000, he said, and dropped to just one or two a year by 2015. 'I essentially warned the other CEOs that this cannot be good for us,' Aalaei said. 'It cannot be good for the semiconductor industry in America, and that what we needed to do is to fundamentally change things about it. If that trend continues, then we're going to lose our competitiveness. We're going to lose the energy that brings in new ideas to the table.' Techcrunch event Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot for our leading AI industry event with speakers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere. For a limited time, tickets are just $292 for an entire day of expert talks, workshops, and potent networking. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | REGISTER NOW Considering how long it takes new chips to come to market, it's not surprising these companies weren't attracting venture investors, he said. Then he sat on the idea for almost a decade. He went on to found Candou Ventures in 2016, and through that fund got to watch the rise in AI startups. When he realized that advancements in generative AI had gotten to a point where it could be used to potentially help solve some of the semiconductor industry's existent challenges, he decided to launch Cognichip in 2024. Cognichip has been operating in stealth ever since and has amassed a team of AI experts from places like Stanford, Google, and MIT to start building. Aalaei said it will take at least a few years to build the model to 'ultimate performance' but said it should be able to help companies before it reaches that goal. 'When we get to that point, this artificial chip intelligence, we will be building a system that can actually act like an expert engineer,' Aalaei said. 'Once we achieve that vision, then you can actually get the same work done with a fraction of the people and in much, much shorter time.' Cognichip is now emerging from stealth with $33 million in seed funding in a round co-led by Lux Capital and Mayfield with participation from FPV and Candou Ventures. Navin Chaddha, a managing partner at Mayfield, told TechCrunch that when he was introduced to Aalaei, he felt they were 'cut from the same cloth.' The vast majority of work in the semiconductor industry is still being done by humans; he said he thinks the timing is right to bring AI into the mix. 'This is a major pain point, and the solution this company will provide will be a pain killer and not a vitamin for the semiconductor industry,' Chaddha said. 'If you don't have humans doing the job, can AI do it where there's shortage of talent? Number one, great team, second, [they are] solving a real pain point in a massive, trillion-dollar industry.' Aalaei said that he hopes Cognichip will also be able to help democratize access to building chips so that more semiconductor companies can get started and land investment. Easier access also means that smaller companies can build more specific chips for specialized or smaller models, too, he said. All of this will depend on when, or if, the company can reach artificial chip intelligence. 'What we're doing is not some incremental change,' Aalaei said. 'We're not building an [electronic design automation] tool, we're not trying to tweak the process a little bit. We're trying to set a new goal for our industry and bring some major change.'
