Synopsys Pairs an OpenAI Chip-Design Deal With a Bold 2030 Growth Plan

Synopsys ($SNPS) had a big Wednesday: the company unveiled a new AI chip-design partnership with OpenAI at its Investor Day, alongside a multi-year growth plan targeting roughly 15% annual revenue growth through fiscal 2030. Shares rose as much as 7% on the news.

OpenAI and Synopsys team up on GPT-Synopsys

Synopsys and OpenAI signed a multi-year agreement to jointly develop GPT-Synopsys, a specialized AI model trained to operate Synopsys' electronic design automation (EDA) tools directly — the software used to design the vast majority of the world's most advanced chips.

How it would work: engineers would hand the model a design objective, and GPT-Synopsys would run the design tools, interpret the results, and revise the design to meet targets on power, performance, area, timing, and verification, with engineers reviewing the outcomes. OpenAI will license Synopsys' EDA tools to help build the model, effectively becoming a customer of the software it's helping automate.

The business terms: OpenAI will pay Synopsys a training subscription fee, and the two companies will share revenue based on how much the model improves a customer's chip design once deployed. CEO Sassine Ghazi said the deal was structured so it "will not be cannibalizing" Synopsys' existing business. The planned service will run on OpenAI-hosted infrastructure, bundling compute, model access, and software licenses, and is designed to integrate with Synopsys.ai and Synopsys Autopilot.

Guardrails: the companies say customer design data won't be used to train the model, with encryption and configurable retention, audit, and access controls. Traditional tool-based verification stays in the loop as a check on the AI's output. Early technology engagements with semiconductor customers are underway, though no general availability date or financial terms were disclosed.

A 15% growth target through fiscal 2030

Separately, Synopsys laid out new multi-year financial targets at the same Investor Day, citing demand for AI-driven chip design, custom silicon, and engineering software.

Looking further out, Synopsys set segment-level growth floors through fiscal 2030: at least 13% annual growth for its core EDA business, at least 10% for Systems & Analysis, and at least 17% for Design IP. By FY2030, the company is targeting a non-GAAP operating margin of roughly 50%, with non-GAAP EPS and free cash flow each growing at a mid-20% compound annual rate from FY2026.

Capital returns and other growth bets

Synopsys said it aims to return up to 50% of free cash flow to shareholders through buybacks, and intends to repurchase approximately $1 billion in shares over the coming months, subject to market conditions. The company is also expanding its application-optimized IP for custom silicon, with Amazon among its customers in that business, alongside the new OpenAI partnership.