Participants will use generative AI to create silicon chip designs for a chance to win free evaluation boards, packaging, and production.
The AI Generated Open Source Silicon Design Challenge, which Efabless Corporation launched today, offers a practical opportunity to experience how straightforward it may be to use AI to build and tapeout chip designs in days or even hours. The design challenge has two objectives. It will first show how Generative AI has the potential to speed up semiconductor innovation by simplifying design and completing it more quickly and cheaply. Second, it will establish a group of interested parties who will share their experiences and learn from them, facilitated by the openness of open source designs regarding accomplishments and lessons learned.
By automating many of the labor-intensive activities involved in the process, generative AI has the potential to completely transform semiconductor design. Participants in this challenge will create Verilog from natural language prompts using generative artificial intelligence (e.g., chatGPT, Bard, or a comparable tool). The Efabless chipIgnite platform, which includes a SoC template (Caravel) offering quick chip-level integration and an open-source RTL-to-GDS digital design pipeline (OpenLane), will then be used to build the designs.
We want to produce at least three of the winning designs. The $9,750 prize package for the winning designers includes evaluation boards and packed components of their designs. A group of reputable judges from the industry will select the winners using the criteria specified on the challenge’s web page. After fabrication is complete, the first 25 participants with qualifying designs will each get an assessment board and one of the winning AI-generated chips.
“We are excited to launch this challenge and to see the designs the community comes up with,” said Mike Wishart, CEO of Efabless. “Generative AI has the potential to transform chip design and open source makes the learnings available to all. We believe that the challenge is an exciting and important first step for both Efabless and for our community.”
