Siemens unveils Fuse EDA AI Agent for chip workflows

Siemens has launched Fuse EDA AI Agent, an autonomous system designed to plan and run complex electronic design automation (EDA) workflows for semiconductors, 3D integrated circuits and printed circuit boards.

The product orchestrates tasks across Siemens' EDA portfolio, from early design through verification and manufacturing sign-off, and supports integration with third-party tools and models.

Fuse EDA AI Agent sits on top of the Fuse EDA AI system, which Siemens positions as a foundation layer for agent-based automation. The underlying system includes retrieval-augmented generation, support for multiple EDA data types, parsers for common EDA file formats, and access controls intended for controlled engineering environments.

Workflow coverage

Siemens is pitching the agent as a way to coordinate long tool chains that typically span multiple teams and stages. It describes Fuse as a domain-scoped agent built around EDA tasks, rather than a general-purpose assistant.

For front-end design and verification, Fuse Agent can automate architectural exploration and design planning. It also supports register-transfer level coding using Siemens' Catapult software.

For digital verification, the agent integrates with the Questa One Agentic Toolkit for tasks such as testbench generation and debugging.

In physical implementation, it integrates with Aprisa for place-and-route, timing closure and power optimisation, and with Solido for custom design and verification. It also works with the Veloce hardware-assisted verification and validation system.

For sign-off, the agent automates parts of the design rule check violation analysis and resolution through integration with Calibre software. In 3D IC design, it supports power and ground load optimisation and automated creation of signal path plan clustering in the Innovator3D IC software.

On the PCB side, the agent supports layout and signal-integrity analysis in Xpedition and HyperLynx. It also supports manufacturing readiness workflows through Tessent for design-for-test and integration with Calibre optical proximity correction products.

Security focus

Siemens positions Fuse EDA AI Agent as a response to limitations it sees in generic AI assistants for chip and board design. It points to the density and proprietary nature of EDA data, and to the operational risks of using internet-connected tools in environments that handle sensitive design IP.

The agent includes role-based access controls, audit trails and human checkpoints, and can run in air-gapped compute environments. Siemens also says it centralises data handling across teams.

Siemens also outlines an orchestration design based on Model Context Protocol connections to EDA tools. The agent uses hierarchical planning, with a supervisor agent coordinating worker agents, plus recovery loops that can restart or correct steps when tasks fail.

NVIDIA partnership

Fuse EDA AI Agent supports NVIDIA's Agent Toolkit and Nemotron models, and can run on NVIDIA AI infrastructure. Siemens says this combination improves tool calling and reasoning for multi-step EDA tasks.

"Fuse EDA AI Agent represents the next evolution of our Fuse EDA AI system, moving from in-tool AI capabilities to autonomous, end-to-end workflow orchestration," said Amit Gupta, Chief AI Strategy Officer, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Siemens EDA, Siemens Digital Industries Software.

Siemens also plans to continue working with NVIDIA's enterprise agent stack, including NemoClaw and the OpenShell runtime. It describes NemoClaw as an open-source stack for running always-on assistants, and says OpenShell provides a secure runtime for autonomous agents and models such as Nemotron.

"Together with Siemens, we are charting the next era of agentic AI-where long-running agents can safely operate advanced engineering tools and coordinate multi-step design tasks," said Kari Briski, Senior Vice President of Generative AI, NVIDIA.

According to the companies, NVIDIA also uses Siemens EDA tools in its own chip development.

Industry adoption

Samsung Electronics is among the early companies cited in connection with the Fuse rollout. Siemens says Samsung plans to use Fuse in agent-based semiconductor workflows.

"Seamless orchestration across complex EDA environments is crucial as the industry continues to advance semiconductor technologies. Samsung is pleased to introduce Siemens' Fuse as a key enabler for cutting-edge design strategies within our agentic semiconductor workflows," said Jung Yun Choi, Executive Vice President of Memory Design Technology, Samsung Electronics.

Siemens presents the product as part of a broader shift in EDA from individual tool features to systems that coordinate flows across design stages and vendors. It says the architecture is open to customer-defined workflows and model choices, and describes third-party integration as a core part of the platform's direction.