Synopsys has announced a partnership with OpenAI to develop GPT-Synopsys, a specialised artificial intelligence (AI) model for chip design, as the electronic design automation (EDA) company expands its strategy around AI-driven engineering and custom silicon.
Announced at Synopsys' 2026 Investor Day in New York, the collaboration will combine OpenAI's frontier AI capabilities with Synopsys' EDA tools and semiconductor design expertise. The initiative aims to advance AI-powered chip design and simulation as demand for computing power and application-specific silicon grows.
Synopsys President and CEO Sassine Ghazi said AI is creating multiple growth opportunities for the company, driven by rising demand for compute infrastructure, increasing system complexity, purpose-built silicon and agentic engineering workflows.
The company is also expanding beyond traditional standards-based intellectual property (IP) towards application-optimised IP (AOIP). This approach enables customers to develop differentiated silicon tailored to specific workloads and system architectures. Synopsys said it has secured multiple AOIP customers across compute, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and AI connectivity architectures.
As part of this strategy, Synopsys announced a strategic, multi-year IP agreement with Amazon to support custom silicon collaboration, extending to cloud and AI-powered engineering.
Synopsys is pursuing a flexible approach to AI adoption, allowing customers to deploy its Synopsys Autopilot platform, integrate its AI agents into their own platforms or use frontier AI models optimised for specialised engineering workflows.
The company aims to combine domain-specific AI agents, engineering context and trusted execution engines to support complex product development and simulation tasks. Its commercial strategy includes subscription and consumption-based models spanning engineering tools, agents and platforms.
The approach is intended to create additional revenue opportunities as semiconductor companies and system designers integrate AI into engineering workflows.
Synopsys also outlined its financial guidance for fiscal year 2027 and a multi-year financial framework through fiscal year 2030. The company announced plans to repurchase approximately $1 billion in shares over the coming months, subject to market conditions.
Chief Financial Officer Shelagh Glaser said the updated financial framework reflects the company's expectations for growth and operational efficiency, with an emphasis on expanding margins, generating strong free cash flow and continuing investment in innovation.
The announcements reflect Synopsys' broader strategy to capture growth from AI infrastructure, custom silicon and AI-enabled engineering. By combining specialised AI models with established chip design tools and application-specific IP, the company is positioning itself to participate in the growing adoption of AI across semiconductor development.
