Investing.com-- Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is interested in using generative artificial intelligence to help design its custom chips, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing recent comments from a top executive in the technology giant.
Reuters reported that Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware technologies, said as much during a speech in Belgium last month.
Srouji touted the potential for gen AI to support designing Apple’s custom chips, which are at the heart of the company’s flagship devices.
Srouji said that Apple attempted to always use the most cutting-edge technology available to design its chips, including the latest chip design software from electronic design automation firms.
Cadence Design (NASDAQ:CDNS) and Synopsys (NASDAQ:SNPS) are the largest players in the chip design software industry, and have also been racing to add gen AI to their offerings.
Apple has used custom silicon in its iPhone devices since 2010, starting with the Apple A4 chip. The company had in 2020 switched its Mac computers to custom silicon from Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) processors, a move that also sparked a massive sales bump for the company.
Srouji had largely spearheaded Apple’s shift into custom silicon, and was at one point even considered as a candidate to lead chipmaker Intel.
Still, Apple has struggled to incorporate gen AI into its flagship devices, having largely lagged rivals such as Samsung (KS:005930) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL). The company made few references to its AI plans during its Worldwide Developers Conference earlier in June.