{"slug": "beijing-pushes-ai-assisted-chip-design-as-part-of-self-sufficiency-drive", "title": "Beijing pushes AI-assisted chip design as part of self-sufficiency drive", "summary": "Empyrean Technology, China's top electronic design automation (EDA) tool maker, cut a circuit layout task from four weeks to one week by applying an AI agent to its simulation and layout tools, chairman Liu Weiping said at the 2026 International Integrated Circuit Innovation Expo in Shenzhen on Wednesday. Liu described agentic AI as a \"paradigm shift\" in chip design, moving from \"humans operating tools\" to \"humans commanding agents,\" and said the industry's business model is shifting from software licences toward token consumption. Empyrean is developing an agentic EDA platform it considers core to its future strategy, designed to let its own agentic tools work with partners' agents, as Beijing and domestic firms push AI into chip design software for national self-sufficiency.", "body_md": "# Beijing pushes AI-assisted chip design as part of self-sufficiency drive\n\nAgentic AI is creating a ‘paradigm shift’ in semiconductor design, chairman of domestic EDA leader Empyrean Technology says\n\n[Iris Deng](/author/iris-deng)in Shenzhen\n\nArtificial intelligence agents are increasingly taking the wheel in designing China’s next-generation semiconductors, as Beijing and domestic technology firms accelerate efforts to integrate AI into chip design software to bolster national self-sufficiency.\n\nEmpyrean Technology, China’s top maker of electronic design automation (EDA) tools, has been accelerating the chip design process by using AI-optimised algorithms and agentic tools, according to company chairman Liu Weiping.\n\nBy applying an AI agent to its simulation and layout tools, the company slashed the time needed for a circuit layout task from four weeks to just one week, Liu said.\n\nAgentic AI has brought a “paradigm shift” to chip design, moving away from “humans operating tools” to “humans commanding agents”, Liu said at the 2026 International Integrated Circuit Innovation Expo in Shenzhen on Wednesday.\n\nThis shift would also apply to the business model of the industry, which was changing from the traditional software licence model towards a new model based on token consumption with agentic EDA, Liu said.\n\nEmpyrean was developing an agentic EDA platform, which the company considered core to its future strategy, that would allow its own agentic tools to work with its partners’ agents, according to Liu.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/beijing-pushes-ai-assisted-chip-design-as-part-of-self-sufficiency-drive", "canonical_source": "https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3367245/beijing-pushes-ai-assisted-chip-design-part-self-sufficiency-drive?utm_source=rss_feed", "published_at": "2026-09-13 06:00:08+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-13 06:27:12.815911+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-agents", "ai-chips", "ai-tools", "ai-products"], "entities": ["Empyrean Technology", "Liu Weiping", "China", "Shenzhen", "International Integrated Circuit Innovation Expo"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/beijing-pushes-ai-assisted-chip-design-as-part-of-self-sufficiency-drive", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/beijing-pushes-ai-assisted-chip-design-as-part-of-self-sufficiency-drive.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/beijing-pushes-ai-assisted-chip-design-as-part-of-self-sufficiency-drive.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/beijing-pushes-ai-assisted-chip-design-as-part-of-self-sufficiency-drive.jsonld"}}