Unlike software product development, even when using a foundries chip manufacture requires 7-8 figure (USD) development budgets. That is per iteration. Unlike JS development there isn't massive volumes of internet resources to train LLMs on to produce usable RTL, etc code.
FirmwareBurner · 54m ago
>Unlike JS development there isn't massive volumes of internet resources to train LLMs on to produce usable RTL, etc code.
There is local data on each major manufacturer/designer that they can use to train their LLMs. I'm sure Synopsys/Mentor/Siemens are also working towards providing solutions to their customers can use to train their own LLMs.
doix · 47m ago
Interesting, I thought(from the title) this would be about analogue vs digital designers. But the article is written in the context of a "fully digital" chip (i.e the analogue stuff is abstracted away, all chips are analogue at the end of the day).
"Fullstack chip designers" exist in the mixed-signal world. Where the analogue component is the majority of the chip, and the digital is fairly simple, it's sometimes done by single person to save money. At least it was definitely a thing in the late 00's and early 2010's in small fabless design centers. Not sure about nowadays.
leptons · 1h ago
Of course it has to be another article about "AI". It wouldn't be on HN if it's not about "AI". /s
There is local data on each major manufacturer/designer that they can use to train their LLMs. I'm sure Synopsys/Mentor/Siemens are also working towards providing solutions to their customers can use to train their own LLMs.
"Fullstack chip designers" exist in the mixed-signal world. Where the analogue component is the majority of the chip, and the digital is fairly simple, it's sometimes done by single person to save money. At least it was definitely a thing in the late 00's and early 2010's in small fabless design centers. Not sure about nowadays.