The chips powering AI can take years to design. This startup says AI did it in 2 weeks. (www.businessinsider.com)

Startup Architect Labs has made headlines by utilizing AI to design and verify a chip called Redwood in just two weeks, a process that typically takes over a year and involves large teams and substantial financial investment. By leveraging AI for detailed design tasks while human architects manage the overall planning, Architect Labs aims to revolutionize chip design, particularly significant for the fast-paced AI industry where hardware often lags behind model evolution. The company emerged from stealth with a $24 million seed funding round, backed by notable investors, including ex-Google chief scientist Jeff Dean. The Redwood chip, designed to run advanced AI models, has thus far been tested on reprogrammable hardware, showing potential efficiency surpassing Nvidia's Jetson Orin Nano. Architect Labs plans to manufacture Redwood with TSMC, though the design remains under iterative improvement by AI. While the technology holds promise for rapid innovation, experts caution about the need for careful oversight as AI can make critical design errors. Architect's approach suggests a shift towards a "designless" era in chip development, enabling more companies to create custom chips without the traditional overhead of large teams.