From Computerphile.

When you’re setting your hardware design out using automated tools is essential, but what if the tools themselves have bugs in them? John P Wickerson is based at Imperial College London.

The paper that John’s team wrote about the work: https://johnwickerson.github.io/papers/fuzzing_pnr.pdf

An accessible blogpost John wrote about the work: https://johnwickerson.wordpress.com/2026/01/06/finding-bugs-in-fpga-place-and-route-tools/

Computerphile is supported by Jane Street. Learn more about them (and exciting career opportunities) at: https://jane-st.co/computerphile

This video was filmed and edited by Sean Riley.

Computerphile is a sister project to Brady Haran’s Numberphile. More at https://www.bradyharanblog.com