Introducing Cognichip: Artificial Chip Intelligence ACI™ to Power the Future of Semiconductor Design

After more than four decades in the technology industry, including 25 years building companies that designed semiconductors for the communications, networking, and automotive markets, I've had a front-row seat to the evolution of our field. I've taken two semiconductor companies public, both in the aftermath of historic downturns, and competed against giants and scrappy startups alike.

But one trend has remained disturbingly consistent: the growing cost, time, and complexity required to bring a chip to life. Today I am proud to introduce Cognichip, a company founded to confront these challenges head-on.

Back in 2015, I shared a presentation with my peers on the Silicon Valley Semiconductor Leadership Council, sounding the alarm. VC-backed chip startups had plummeted from 200 in the year 2000 to just four in 2014. The reasons were clear: chip design took too long and demanded too much capital. The result was fewer entrepreneurs with bold new ideas, fewer challengers to the status quo, and a noticeable decline in disruption. Even worse, the pool of engineers willing or able to tackle these challenges was shrinking.

The model of semiconductor innovation we grew up with, pioneers in small teams building the future in garages and small offices, had given way to something slower, more expensive, and less accessible. We believe it is time to change the model. Not just tweak it. It is time to radically rethink how chips are designed. This is what led me to found Cognichip, a startup built to do just that.

Introducing Cognichip: Artificial Chip Intelligence ACI™ Powering the Future of Chip Design

Cognichip's mission is to build Artificial Chip Intelligence ACI™, a new foundation for semiconductor design that puts physics-informed AI at the center of the development process. ACI is not another design tool, it is a reinvention of the entire development model, designed to reduce time, cost, and complexity while restoring the culture of pioneering innovation that built this industry in the first place.

At Cognichip, we are creating a world where semiconductor design is not only more efficient for semiconductor expert companies, but also the playing field of every bold innovator with a big idea.

Cognichip is an AI-first company revolutionizing the way semiconductors are designed. Artificial Chip Intelligence ACI™ fundamentally reshapes the economics of chip design. It's built on the world's first physics-informed foundation AI model tailored for chip design.

Our Team

I am fortunate to be joined by an exceptional group of co-founders and leaders:

• Ehsan Kamalinejad, our Co-founder & CTO, is a recognized authority in AI and machine learning. He led ML initiatives at Apple, including the Memories feature in Apple Photos, and pioneered reinforcement learning at Amazon. Ehsan holds a PhD from the University of Toronto, where he worked with some of the most influential minds in AI.
• Simon Sabato, our Co-founder and Chief Architect, is a veteran in chip design and system architecture. He's held leadership roles at Google, Cisco, and Cadence and has deep expertise in FPGA acceleration and high-performance computing. Simon brings the hardware perspective essential to building AI that truly understands chip design.
• Mehdi Daneshpanah, our founding VP of Software, brings over 15 years of experience in AI and enterprise software. He previously led KLA's global software team and now spearheads development of Cognichip's AI-native software stack.
• Stelios Diamantidis, our Chief Product Officer, is a 25-year EDA founder, technologist, and pioneer of AI-driven chip design. He led Synopsys' Generative AI Center of Excellence and launched DSO.ai™, the world's first AI-powered chip design tool.

The strong and experienced management team is complemented by brilliant AI scientists with PhDs from MIT, Stanford, University of Toronto, Berkeley, and other exceptional universities, some with world-class competitive mathematics and physics backgrounds.

Our Vision: Making Chip Innovation More Accessible

Our vision is audacious. We are building a physics-informed foundation model with designer-level cognitive abilities that delivers Artificial Chip Intelligence ACI™. In doing so, we aim to make chip design easier, less expensive, and more accessible for engineers everywhere to create with fewer barriers and greater speed.

We have assembled an incredibly talented team of engineers and scientists who are working at the frontier of applied AI, cutting-edge software, and semiconductor innovation. We are AI pioneers; but uncompromising about security, transparency, and human-centric decision-making.

Our innovations are reshaping boundaries and breaking down silos—and we are just getting started.

Welcome to Cognichip. What will you design today?™

Backed by Big Vision Investors

Big vision companies are built with the help of big vision investors. We are fortunate to have Lux Capital, Mayfield, FPV and Candou Ventures as our seed round investors. This group of exceptional and experienced investors have been invaluable partners, providing not just capital but wisdom, connections, and unwavering support.

The Future of Semiconductor Design Begins Now

It is time to reignite the spirit of innovation that gave rise to early pioneers like Fairchild Semiconductor, and to empower a new generation of engineers and entrepreneurs, to imagine boldly, and to build fearlessly.

At Cognichip, we are redesigning the future of the semiconductor industry. If you're looking to solve the world's toughest science problems and want to build a new framework for chip design, or create infinitely scalable cloud-based software, or be the first to bring to market industry-setting products, come join us as partners and team members and let's build back up the dynamic nature of our industry where dreams become reality and positively affect our world. Let's be pioneers again.