Chinese platform QiMeng creates processors at Intel 486 and Arm level

Chinese scientists developed a new AI platform capable of independently designing processors at the level of human experts. Researchers from the State Laboratory for Processor Development and the Intelligent Software Research Center presented an open-source project called QiMeng.

This innovative system uses large language models for fully automated design of both hardware and software. According to developers, microchips created by QiMeng are not inferior in performance and efficiency to chips designed by human experts.

As a demonstration of the platform’s capabilities, researchers have already designed 2 processors. 1 variant – QiMeng-CPU-v1 – is comparable in capabilities to Intel 486. 2 – QiMeng-CPU-v2 – can compete with chips based on Arm Cortex-A53. Interestingly, there’s a 26-year gap of technological development between these historical analogs!

QiMeng architecture consists of 3 interconnected layers. Foundation – domain-specific large processor chip model. Middle tier – hardware and software design agent. Upper level – various applications for processor design. This entire system can perform in several days work that takes human engineering teams weeks and months of meticulous labor.