OpenAI and Synopsys announced a multi-year partnership to build GPT-Synopsys, an AI model trained specifically to design and verify computer chips. OpenAI is licensing Synopsys' electronic design automation tools directly rather than building its own from scratch, and the model will run on OpenAI's infrastructure.

The pitch is a model that can reason through chip design and verification problems and operate Synopsys' software on its own, with engineers setting objectives and signing off on results rather than doing the manual work. Semiconductor customers are already testing early versions, and the two companies plan to market GPT-Synopsys jointly and split the revenue. Customer data will stay encrypted and won't be used to train the system.

The move extends OpenAI's growing chip-design footprint, following its existing work with Broadcom on custom silicon for AI workloads, including the recently revealed Jalapeno chip. Synopsys CEO Sassine Ghazi and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman both publicly backed the deal's ambitions.