Nvidia’s $2B Synopsys bet tightens its grip on the chip-design stack

Nvidia is investing $2 billion into Synopsys, which makes software and components for designing semiconductor chips. The deal deepens their existing partnership at a time when analysts have started to scrutinize increasingly common circular AI-industry deals and warn of a potential bubble.

Nvidia said it bought Synopsys shares at $414.79 each as part of a multi-year partnership to integrate Nvidia’s AI hardware and computing capabilities into Synopsys’s electronic design automation (EDA) and simulation software. The deal will help Synopsys transition its platform from CPU-based computing to GPUs, a shift it hopes will speed up chip-design workflows, per a release.

The deal gave Synopsys’s stock a lift by signaling long-term growth – a boon after the company recently reported weakness in its IP segment due to U.S. export restrictions and issues at a major customer.

For Nvidia, the investment strengthens its influence over Synopsys’s widely used EDA tools at a time when chip-design competition is starting to heat up. It also comes after major investors such as SoftBank and Peter Thiel have sold off their Nvidia positions.