Samsung is reportedly using Claude to speed up chip design

Samsung is reportedly leveraging AI to expedite one of the most time-consuming aspects of chip design. According to a report from Chosun Biz, the company's engineers are employing Anthropic's Claude to expedite specific tasks, with one project reportedly completed approximately fifteen times quicker than usual. The report indicates that Samsung Electronics' System LSI division has been utilizing Claude Code for semiconductor verification and general software development.

Access to the tool was granted to developers in May, with its application subsequently expanded to specialize chip design work. Samsung's engineers allegedly completed an SoC project's verification environment and testing, a task typically taking over a month, in just two days with Claude's assistance. Remarkably, a second-year engineer with no prior experience in Claude Code or USB communication standards managed to complete a task usually requiring a month in just one day.

These outcomes could be especially significant for the System LSI division, which boasts a considerably smaller workforce than some of its major competitors. Estimates suggest the division employs around 6,000 individuals, while its primary rival Qualcomm has over 52,000 employees. Samsung appears to be employing AI to bridge this gap by delegating routine tasks and assisting engineers in working with unfamiliar technologies.

However, concerns remain that Claude may occasionally misunderstand instructions, disrupt unrelated tasks, or attempt to alter circuit design code when it's only meant to analyze verification results. To mitigate such issues, Samsung is retaining human oversight to guide Claude's operations and verify its outputs before any further action is taken.

If the company can manage to curb these errors, Claude could provide Samsung's smaller chip design team with the productivity enhancement needed to compete with much larger rivals.