Rapidus, the young Japanese foundry founded with the ambition of restoring Japan’s leadership role in advanced semiconductors, has just taken a significant step into a domain that is becoming as critical as silicon itself: design. On December 17, 2025, from SEMICON Japan (Tokyo), the company announced a new suite of AI-assisted design tools under its Rapidus AI-Assisted Design Solution (Raads) initiative, which now also presents itself as Rapidus AI-Agentic Design Solution. The message is clear: it’s not just about “helping” engineers, but about transforming part of the design flow into an agent capable of proposing, verifying, and optimizing architectural and implementation decisions.
Raads Generator and Raads Predictor: From Requirements to RTL and from RTL to an Estimated PPA in Less Time
The announcement revolves around two initial components:
- Raads Generator, described as an EDA tool based on large language models (LLMs). The promise: if the designer provides specifications, the tool generates optimized RTL (register-transfer level) data tailored for Rapidus’s 2 nm process.
- Raads Predictor, aimed at debugging and optimizing RTL with a focus on physical design phases (physical layout, placement, and routing). Rapidus claims this component will provide a PPA (power, performance, area) estimate “in a short period of time”.
The idea is for the designer to use Generator to turn requirements into RTL, then feed that RTL along with Synopsys Design Constraints (SDC) to the Predictor to anticipate how the design would translate into silicon manufactured by Rapidus.
The Ambitious Productivity Promise: -50% Design Time and -30% Costs
Rapidus accompanies the launch with a striking claim: by using Raads together with existing EDA tools, developers could cut design time by 50% and reduce costs by 30%. This is an ambitious statement, and also noteworthy for its nuance: the company does not pitch Raads as a replacement for the EDA ecosystem, but as an overlay that integrates with already-established workflows.
What’s Coming in 2026: More Tools to “Navigate,” “Manage,” and “Optimize”
Following Generator and Predictor, Rapidus plans to roll out additional modules throughout 2026:
- Raads Navigator / Raads Indicator: LLMs for quality assurance and assistance in troubleshooting design issues.
- Raads Manager: a layout tool employing ML/AI to create a hierarchical configuration that minimizes design time.
- Raads Optimizer: ML/AI-based tool to search for parameters that optimize PPA.
Furthermore, Rapidus indicates these tools will be offered to clients starting in 2026, alongside a PDK (process design kit) and “reference flows”. That detail is important: without a PDK and reference flows, any promise of “optimized for 2 nm” remains marketing spin; with them, Rapidus aims to embed the design process within the manufacturing process from the outset.
Why Rapidus Links Raads to Its RUMS Concept: Design and Manufacturing as One Circuit
The Raads announcement is not isolated. Rapidus frames it within its RUMS (Rapid and Unified Manufacturing Service) vision: shortening cycles between design, manufacturing, and packaging, reducing friction and downtime.
Simultaneously, the company has been reporting progress on its IIM-1 plant: discussing a single-wafer processing approach for all processes, and in June 2025, announcing the connection of over 200 equipment to enable an automated material handling system geared toward 2 nm GAA prototyping. In July, it announced the initiation of prototyping and the acquisition of electrical characteristics from prototype wafers.
Viewed together, Raads positions itself as the “other half” of the plan: if the factory aims to shorten iteration cycles, the design must better anticipate results (PPA) and correct issues before the cost of changes skyrockets. Ultimately, it’s a bet on closing the design-manufacturing loop with more software, data, and automation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Raads (Rapidus AI-Assisted / AI-Agentic Design Solution), and what is it for?
It’s an initiative by Rapidus grouping AI-powered design tools to accelerate the transition from specifications to RTL, and to estimate/optimize PPA with a focus on the company’s 2 nm process.
What exactly does Raads Generator do, and how does it differ from a code assistant?
According to Rapidus, Generator is an LLM-based EDA tool that generates RTL from specifications, aligned with their 2 nm manufacturing process. It’s not a “chatbot,” but an integrated component within the EDA flow.
What is PPA, and why is it important that Raads Predictor estimates it quickly?
PPA (power, performance, area) is the classic triad that determines whether a chip is viable both technically and economically. Estimating it early allows iterative refinement of RTL and constraints without waiting for late physical design stages.
When will the tools be available, and what does a client need to use them?
Rapidus states that tools will start to be released in 2026, accompanied by PDKs and reference flows—key elements that ensure the design process is realistically tied to manufacturing.
Sources: (Rapidus)