Synopsys and Samsung Foundry Tighten the 2nm AI Design Loop

Synopsys and Samsung Foundry are sharpening the toolchain that turns advanced node ambition into shipped silicon.

At SAFE Forum 2026 today, Synopsys announced fresh collaborations across production-ready AI-powered design flows, certified multiphysics signoff, faster test, expanded IP, and a 3D design platform being validated on Samsung Foundry’s Hybrid Copper Bonding technology. The common thread: customers building AI accelerators and multi-die systems need fewer surprises, shorter cycles, and silicon they can stand behind.

In his SAFE Forum keynote, Synopsys President and CEO Sassine Ghazi pointed at the structural problem every chip team now wrestles with. Engineering complexity is compounding, cycle times are tightening, and costs keep climbing. Ghazi argued the answer lies in fusing AI automation and multiphysics intelligence across the full design and manufacturing flow. Today’s news reads as proof points for that thesis.

Production-Ready 2nm Flows and Smarter Signoff

Start with the front end. Synopsys’ AI-powered digital and analog flows are now production-ready on Samsung Foundry’s third-generation 2nm class process. Fusion Compiler on the third-gen 2nm node delivers measurable power and performance gains over second-generation 2nm, validated with customers and shaped by years of design technology co-optimization (DTCO).

For teams charting a migration from 4nm or 3nm to 2nm, the “production-ready” label carries weight: lower migration risk and a faster route to taped-out parts. That matters more in 2026 than it did even 18 months ago, as hyperscalers and AI-first silicon teams chase 2nm capacity across multiple foundries at once.

Signoff gets a sharper edge too. New PrimeShield capabilities, including Process Sensitivity Analysis and PVT Explorer, support design-specific optimization and engineering change order decisions late in the flow. Drawing on silicon feedback from 2nm class processes, Synopsys reports up to a 2.7% frequency improvement within 5% leakage current degradation when compared to the previous generation of PrimeShield software.

Totem-SC, newly certified for electromigration and IR drop analysis on second-generation 2nm and 4nm class nodes, gives designers a stronger handle on power integrity at the edge of what physics allows.

Test is where the math gets compelling. Synopsys TestMAX, paired with AI-assisted automatic test pattern generation through TSO.ai, cuts test patterns and test cycles up to 20% with fault coverage held steady, validated on silicon at Samsung Foundry. Physically aware tests and failure diagnosis at the die and multi-die level shorten the loop between bring-up and root cause. For SoC and multi-die designs at AI infrastructure volumes, a 20% test reduction translates directly into lower COGS and faster ramp.

The most strategic beat sits in 3D. Synopsys 3DIC Compiler is currently being validated on a 2nm class Samsung Foundry Hybrid Copper Bonding (HCB) 3D test chip. The platform unifies planning, implementation, and multiphysics analysis so design teams can co-optimize across compute, memory, and advanced packaging in one environment. HCB is one of the most consequential interconnect technologies coming to volume manufacturing for AI accelerators. Pairing it with an AI-driven 3D design platform pushes multi-die design out of manual margin stacking and into an automated, unified flow.

Closing the announcement, Synopsys reiterated the depth of its IP portfolio on Samsung Foundry processes, running across advanced nodes including 14nm, 8nm, 5nm, 4nm, and second-generation 2nm, as well as reaching into automotive nodes at 5nm and 2nm class processes. The interface IP roster reads like a roadmap for what AI and edge platforms will need over the next 24 months: UCIe, PCIe 7.0, 112G/224G, MIPI, LPDDR6, DDR5 MRDIMM Gen2, and USB4.  

“Close alignment across design, test, and manufacturing are critical to the success of AI and multi-die designs on advanced nodes,” said Hyung-Ock Kim, vice president and head of the Foundry Design Technology Team at Samsung Electronics.

Ravi Subramanian, Chief Product Management Officer at Synopsys, said the work translates years of DTCO and silicon learning into customer-ready enablement.  

TechArena Take

As hyperscalers and AI-first silicon teams race to lock down 2nm allocation, the bottleneck isn't just wafer capacity, it's design velocity. Silicon builders cannot afford to let next-generation architectures sit in optimization limbo. By tying together EDA, IP, test, and advanced HCB packaging into a single integrated feedback loop, Synopsys and Samsung Foundry are tackling the real friction point: engineering risk.

For enterprise executives, this reduces the risk of migrating to leading-edge nodes. For the broader market, it signals that Samsung Foundry is aggressively building out the comprehensive ecosystem required to be a viable, high-volume alternative for advanced AI accelerators. The architecture wins of the next 24 months won't just go to the best node; they will go to the most cohesive ecosystem.