Desktop Metal files for bankruptcy protection
In case you're just tuning in, there is a long saga of consolidation in the additive manufacturing space. Nano Dimension tried to buy Desktop Metal and Markforged and ultimately succeeded, but has been rebuffed by Stratasys several times since 2023. All of this...
It’s done: Ansys is part of Synopsys
We knew it was coming, but it's still a bit of a shock: Synopsys announced today that has completed its $35 billion acquisition of Ansys. Synopsys CEO Sassine Ghazi said, "Today marks a transformational milestone for Synopsys. For decades, Synopsys has been delivering...
Autodesk says it’s sticking to tuck-in acquisitions
And the news just keeps coming on what is supposed to be a sleepy summer Monday … unless you're in France, where it's Bastille Day. Autodesk just released a filing to the SEC (here on Autodesk's website) that is short and to the point: We are confident in our plans to...
China finally grants approval for Synopsys+Ansys
Reuters and other news outlets are reporting that the Chinese State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has approved Synopsys' acquisition of Ansys, subject to the following conditions: Synopsys must divest its Optical Solutions Group (OSG) business, and Ansys...
Bloomberg: Autodesk thinking about buying PTC
Late yesterday, Bloomberg reported that Autodesk Inc. is weighing an acquisition of rival engineering-software provider PTC Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.PTC is also drawing interest from other industry players, and no final decision has been made...
US Chip EDA sales can resume in China
I genuinely dislike headlines like this, from Reuters this morning: "As trade war truce with China holds, US lifts curbs for chip design software and ethane," because it very much sounds like the restrictions could be reversed at any time. But for now, the U.S....
Uhoh: China may be blocking Ansys + Synopsys
According to a couple of news outlets (here and here, for example), Chinese regulators have now blocked Synopsys's acquisition of Ansys because, the reports say, the US banned US EDA makers from selling in China. Shares of Synopsys and Ansys are both down on the news....
Movement in the EDA/China saga?
News is out this morning that some access to US EDA has been restored in China. I can't find anything from the EDA vendors themselves, but various outlets (here, citing Digitimes, which is behind a paywall; here, a tweet in English discussing a Chinese blogger's post...
Siemens’ update on US China EDA ban – and I have thoughts. Of course I do.
If you recall, last week, the news broke that the US Bureau of Industry and Security (part of the Department of Commerce) had sent letters to Cadence, Siemens, and Synopsys telling them to stop selling specific EDA tools in China. The BIS is concerned that these...
Let’s talk about AI
I'm seeing two very different strategies as engineering/design/manufacturing/construction companies think about artificial intelligence: On the one hand, many bigger companies have teams (usually in IT) who stay on top of machine learning, large language models, and...