AI Chips Design AI Chips
Google is to use AI algorithms to help design the next generation of Tensor Processing Units, its custom AI accelerator chips. A year or so back, it published on the subject, and it appears to have got it working. Automating chip design isn’t new. Back in the days of 10,000 transistors, it was a laborious hand-drawn job. These days, chips can have billions of transistors, so going old-school isn’t an option. Enter chip design software, which helps map out the complicated web of transistors, tracks, and interconnects. The AI is particularly good at arranging the most efficient pattern, which is often rather haphazard-looking. If it works for the next TPU, the tools will be put to use on more complex designs. It’ll be a while yet before it’s ready for a CPU, but AI help is on the way.