Artificial intelligence agents are increasingly being deployed to design China’s next-generation semiconductors as Beijing and domestic technology companies accelerate efforts to integrate AI into chip design software and strengthen national self-sufficiency.
Empyrean Technology, China’s leading maker of electronic design automation tools, has been accelerating semiconductor design through AI-optimised algorithms and agentic tools, according to company chairman Liu Weiping.
By applying an AI agent to its simulation and layout tools, Empyrean reduced the time required for one circuit layout task from four weeks to just one week, Liu said at the 2026 International Integrated Circuit Innovation Expo in Shenzhen on Wednesday.
Liu described the development as a “paradigm shift” in chip design, with the industry moving from “humans operating tools” towards “humans commanding agents”. The change, he said, could extend beyond the technology itself to the way EDA software is sold and consumed.
The traditional software licensing model could give way to a system based on token consumption through agentic EDA, Liu said. Empyrean is developing an agentic EDA platform that it regards as central to its future strategy, allowing its own AI tools to work alongside agents developed by its partners.
EDA software is essential to semiconductor development, enabling engineers to design and test microchips before manufacturing. Building domestic alternatives has become a major priority for Beijing because the global EDA market is dominated by Western companies including Synopsys, Cadence Design Systems and Siemens EDA.
Empyrean’s push comes as China seeks to use artificial intelligence to accelerate its broader campaign for self-reliance in critical technologies, particularly semiconductors. Beijing’s strategy is increasingly linking advances in AI with efforts to overcome technological dependencies in areas where foreign companies remain dominant.
A new action plan published by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Friday called for deeper integration between AI and software, including industrial software such as EDA and computer-aided design tools. The stated objective is to move towards “the high end of the global value chain by 2030”.
Wang Weiwei, an MIIT official, said at a press conference on Friday that the rise of AI was redefining traditional software and its development model. He described the technology as a “historic opportunity to reshape the competitive landscape and leapfrog” rivals.
China’s effort also reflects a wider transformation in the semiconductor software industry, as global EDA leaders are pursuing AI-assisted design themselves. The technology is therefore becoming not only a tool for China’s self-sufficiency drive but also a new area of competition among established international companies and domestic challengers.
US-based Cadence, one of the global EDA leaders, introduced its ChipStack AI Super Agent in June. The company described it as the industry’s first “Level-5” autonomous agentic AI design engineer, capable of independently carrying out complex chip design verification workflows.
For Beijing, the integration of agentic AI with domestic EDA software offers a way to pursue two objectives simultaneously: speeding up semiconductor development while reducing dependence on foreign design tools. Empyrean’s four-week-to-one-week example illustrates the potential productivity gains, while its planned agentic platform signals an attempt to build a broader domestic ecosystem in which AI systems developed by different partners can operate together.
The race is no longer simply about producing more chips. It is increasingly about controlling the software and AI systems that determine how those chips are designed, tested and brought closer to production.
