SAN FRANCISCO, June 18 (Reuters) - Apple ( AAPL ) is

interested in tapping generative artificial intelligence to help

speed up the design of the custom chips at the heart of its

devices, its top hardware technology executive said in private

remarks last month.

Johny Srouji, Apple's ( AAPL ) senior vice president of hardware

technologies, made the remarks in a speech in Belgium, where he

was receiving an award from Imec, an independent semiconductor

research and development group that works closely with most of

the world's biggest chipmakers.

In the speech, a recording of which was reviewed by Reuters,

Srouji outlined Apple's ( AAPL ) development of custom chips from the

first A4 chip in an iPhone in 2010 to the most recent chips that

power Mac desktop computers and the Vision Pro headset.

He said one of the key lessons Apple ( AAPL ) learned was that it needed

to use the most cutting-edge tools available to design its

chips, including the latest chip design software from electronic

design automation (EDA) firms.

The two biggest players in that industry - Cadence Design

Systems ( CDNS ) and Synopsys ( SNPS ) - have been racing to add

artificial intelligence to their offerings.

"EDA companies are super critical in supporting our chip

design complexities," Srouji said in his remarks. "Generative AI

techniques have a high potential in getting more design work in

less time, and it can be a huge productivity boost."

Srouji said another key lesson Apple ( AAPL ) learned in designing

its own chips was to make big bets and not look back.

When Apple ( AAPL ) transitioned its Mac computers - its oldest active

product line - from Intel's chips to its own chips in 2020, it

made no contingency plans in case the switch did not work.

"Moving the Mac to Apple Silicon was a huge bet for us.

There was no backup plan, no split-the lineup plan, so we went

all in, including a monumental software effort," Srouji said.