DAC’s Long Beach debut exceeds expectations as AI innovation, new companies signal a changing electronic design landscape

LONG BEACH, Calif. – August 21, 2026 – DAC, The Chips to Systems Conference, concluded its 63rd year with a successful debut in Long Beach, Calif., exceeding expectations for attendance and exhibitor participation. The event brought together established industry leaders, emerging companies, researchers and a new generation of participants, while agentic AI emerged as one of the most talked-about developments across the technical program and exhibit floor.

As DAC opened a new chapter in Long Beach, the conference reflected an electronic design and semiconductor community that is itself undergoing – and embracing – significant change. New companies and new faces joined longtime DAC participants, bringing fresh perspectives and technologies to the conference and expanding the community represented on the exhibit floor.

Agentic AI was at the center of many conversations, as presenters and attendees alike discussed its potential to change how chips and electronic systems are designed. Across the conference, established EDA companies, emerging AI-focused companies and semiconductor design teams demonstrated different approaches to putting these capabilities into practice. Some are embedding AI agents directly into EDA platforms, while others are developing specialized agents and intelligence layers that work with existing design, simulation, verification and implementation tools.

This evolution was visible not only on the exhibit floor, but throughout DAC’s technical and industry programs, where engineers shared examples of AI being applied to verification debug, design optimization, specification analysis, physical implementation and other engineering challenges.

“Long Beach exceeded expectations for a first-time location; the mix of longtime DAC participants and people experiencing DAC for the first time created a really kinetic energy. The Agentic AI momentum demonstrated how quickly the design community is evolving, and DAC has always been the place where the industry, academia, and government stakeholders come together to exchange ideas and determine what is next,” said Renu Mehra, General Chair of DAC 2026, “Long Beach reinforced that.”

A Changing DAC Community

One of the most visible signs of change at DAC 2026 was the mix of companies participating in the conference. Long-established EDA, semiconductor and IP companies were joined by a growing group of emerging and startup companies focused on AI-driven design, verification and engineering productivity.

For many attendees, the exhibit floor offered an opportunity to discover companies and technologies they had not encountered at previous DACs. The presence of these emerging companies alongside established industry leaders highlighted a broader shift taking place across electronic design as new approaches, new business models and new technology providers enter the market.

The change extended beyond the companies exhibiting. Long Beach attracted new participants to DAC while continuing to bring together the researchers, engineers, executives and academics who have made the conference a cornerstone of the electronic design community for more than six decades.

From AI Assistance to Agentic Design

Agentic AI provided a common thread across many of the conversations at DAC 2026.

While recent years have focused heavily on applying machine learning and generative AI to improve engineering productivity, this year’s discussions increasingly centered on the next question: What happens when AI can take action within the design flow?

The result was a robust, energetic conversation that went beyond the promise of AI and focused increasingly on practical questions surrounding implementation, measurable engineering value, trust, proprietary data and the appropriate level of autonomy for AI within production design environments.

The 2026 program extended from traditional design automation into AI-driven design and verification, chiplets and heterogeneous integration, system architecture, security, quantum computing and other technologies shaping the next generation of electronic systems.

The breadth of topics reflects an industry in which the boundaries between chip design, packaging, software and systems continue to converge and where solving the next generation of engineering challenges increasingly requires collaboration across disciplines.

Preliminary registration figures for DAC 2026 in Long Beach include:

· Full Conference & Engineering Track passes: 2,630

· I LOVE DAC passes: 1,594

· Exhibitors’ booth staff: 835

· Total Attendee Registration: 5,059

The 2027 DAC, The Chips to Systems Conference will be held July 11 – 14, 2027 at the San Jose Convention Center, San Jose, Calif.

About DAC

DAC, The Chips to Systems Conference (previously known as the Design Automation Conference) is recognized as the premier event for the design and design automation of electronic systems and circuits. A diverse worldwide community representing more than 1,000 organizations attends each year, represented by system designers and architects, logic and circuit designers, validation engineers, CAD managers, senior managers and executives to researchers and academicians from leading universities. Over 350 technical sessions selected by a committee of electronic design experts offer information on recent developments and trends, management practices and new products, methodologies and technologies. A highlight of DAC is its exhibition and suite area with approximately 120 of the leading and emerging EDA, silicon, Agentic AI and design services providers. The conference is sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and is supported by ACM's Special Interest Group on Design Automation (ACM SIGDA).

For more information, contact:
Michelle Clancy Fuller, DAC 2026 Publicity Chair
Press@dac.com
1-503-702-4732