July, 2017
June, 2018
July 2018
2018 – 2023
Aug 2025 – July 2027
Today & Beyond
DARPA ERI Launch
DARPA launches the Electronics Resurgence Initiative (ERI) to revitalize U.S. semiconductor innovation to tackle challenges to Moore’s Law through advances in chip design, materials, and system architectures.
Launch of IDEA/POSH and OpenROAD
DARPA launches IDEA/POSH (Intelligent Design of Electronic Assets/Pushing Open-Source Hardware) under ERI to drive automated chip design and open hardware ecosystems. OpenROAD was envisioned to democratize chip design through an autonomous, RTL-GDSII flow.
ERI Summit: Official announcement of programs under IDEA/POSH
DARPA publicly announced the IDEA/POSH initiatives at the ERI Summit. OpenROAD grant awarded to a consortium with UCSD as prime (Prof. Andrew Kahng, PI) along with other industry and university partners: Qualcomm, Arm, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, Brown University, University of Texas-Dallas, University of Illinois.
Proving Technical Feasibility (DARPA ERI)
Achieved No-Human-In-Loop (NHIL) flow demonstration, modular architecture, and early academic & industry adoption.
NSF POSE Phase II Award
Selected for NSF Award 2449356 to transition from research prototype to a sustainable, community-governed ecosystem.
The OpenROAD Initiative: Building a sustainable OpenROAD ecosystem
The OpenROAD Initiative was formed as a 501(c)(3) Organization in Feb, 2023 to advance OpenROAD and its diverse ecosystem by providing long-term sustainability, governance, technology vision and credible leadership for the future.
July, 2017
DARPA ERI Launch
DARPA launches the Electronics Resurgence Initiative (ERI) to revitalize U.S. semiconductor innovation to tackle challenges to Moore’s Law through advances in chip design, materials, and system architectures.
June, 2018
Launch of IDEA/POSH and OpenROAD
DARPA launches IDEA/POSH (Intelligent Design of Electronic Assets/Pushing Open-Source Hardware) under ERI to drive automated chip design and open hardware ecosystems. OpenROAD was envisioned to democratize chip design through an autonomous, RTL-GDSII flow.
July 2018
ERI Summit: Official announcement of programs under IDEA/POSH
DARPA publicly announced the IDEA/POSH initiatives at the ERI Summit. OpenROAD grant awarded to a consortium with UCSD as prime (Prof. Andrew Kahng, PI) along with other industry and university partners: Qualcomm, Arm, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, Brown University, University of Texas-Dallas, University of Illinois.
2018 – 2023
Proving Technical Feasibility (DARPA ERI)
Achieved No-Human-In-Loop (NHIL) flow demonstration, modular architecture, and early academic & industry adoption.
Aug 2025 – July 2027
NSF POSE Phase II Award
Selected for NSF Award 2449356 to transition from research prototype to a sustainable, community-governed ecosystem.
Today & Beyond
The OpenROAD Initiative: Building a sustainable OpenROAD ecosystem
The OpenROAD Initiative was formed as a 501(c)(3) Organization in Feb, 2023 to advance OpenROAD and its diverse ecosystem by providing long-term sustainability, governance, technology vision and credible leadership for the future.