Cognichip Raises $60 Million to Build AI That Designs Chips, With Intel's Former CEO on Board

Cognichip, a startup developing artificial intelligence models designed to automate the chip design process, has raised a $60 million Series A led by Seligman Ventures, TechCrunch reported Wednesday. The round adds Lip-Bu Tan, the former chief executive of Intel, as a new board member. The company's thesis is a form of technological recursion: the most powerful semiconductor chips have accelerated AI development, and now AI should be able to return the favor by making chip design faster, cheaper, and more capable. Chip design is among the most complex and expensive processes in engineering. A modern advanced semiconductor can take several years and hundreds of millions of dollars to design, with large teams of specialized engineers working on circuit architecture, physical layout, verification, and manufacturing constraints. Automating meaningful portions of that workflow with AI could dramatically compress timelines and reduce costs. Several companies and research groups have explored AI-assisted electronic design automation, including Google's use of reinforcement learning for chip floorplanning. Cognichip is positioning its work as a more comprehensive AI model for the design process rather than a narrow optimization tool. Lip-Bu Tan's involvement is a notable signal of industry credibility. Tan stepped down as Intel CEO in 2021 after a tenure in which he oversaw significant investment in chip manufacturing and foundry capabilities. His participation brings both semiconductor domain expertise and access to the broader ecosystem of chip industry relationships. TechCrunch, via Techmeme, reported the funding on April 1, 2026.