How Alibaba's new RISC-V chip hits the mark for China's tech self-sufficiency drive

Yahoo

10-03-2025

The server-grade XuanTie C930 processor launched by Alibaba Group Holding is injecting fresh momentum into China's semiconductor industry, according to analysts, for its potential to broaden domestic use of open-source chips built on the RISC-V instruction set architecture, countering US tech restrictions.
The e-commerce giant's research arm, Damo Academy, last month unveiled the C930 central processing unit (CPU) design, developed by Alibaba semiconductor unit T-Head, which is geared towards high-performance computing applications, including data-centre servers and autonomous vehicles. Alibaba owns the Post.
The C930 will begin shipping to clients this month, according to Damo, without providing figures, at a the chip's launch on February 28 in Beijing. Its CPU design is available for licensing to integrated-circuit (IC) developers.
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"The open-source model will help build an inclusive and collaborative global RISC-V ecosystem, making it the new engine for chip industry disruption," Ni Guangnan, a Chinese Academy of Engineering academician, said at the event.
Hangzhou-based Alibaba's latest open-source initiative not only shows the company's progress in RISC-V chip design over the past few years, but also reflects China's commitment to overcome US sanctions.
US trade restrictions have curtailed China's access to advanced semiconductor technology and chipmaking equipment amid growing demand from domestic artificial intelligence (AI) development projects.
RISC-V signage at the C930 processor launch event of Damo Academy, the research arm of Alibaba Group Holding, that was held in Beijing last month. Photo: Douyin alt=RISC-V signage at the C930 processor launch event of Damo Academy, the research arm of Alibaba Group Holding, that was held in Beijing last month. Photo: Douyin>
"Just as DeepSeek has disrupted OpenAI's monopoly with its open-source, low-cost and high-performance advantages, RISC-V demonstrates significant potential in the AI era," analysts at Guotai Junan Securities wrote in a research note on Wednesday.
The breakthrough achieved by DeepSeek is its development of advanced open-source AI models, V3 and R1, at a fraction of the cost and computing power that major tech companies typically require for large language model (LLM) projects.
LLMs are the technology underpinning generative AI services like OpenAI's ChatGPT, Baidu's Ernie Bot and DeepSeek's namesake chatbot.
Open source gives public access to a program's source code, allowing third-party developers to modify or share its design, fix broken links or scale up its capabilities. Open-source technologies have been a huge contributor to China's tech industry over the past few decades.
"Opportunities will rise in the next couple of years after RISC-V builds a unified and stable software ecosystem," said Li Yangwei, a Beijing-based expert in semiconductors and computing systems.
A research team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences expects to deliver its XiangShan RISC-V processor this year. Photo: Chinese Academy of Sciences alt=A research team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences expects to deliver its XiangShan RISC-V processor this year. Photo: Chinese Academy of Sciences>
For Chinese chip designers, RISC-V - the fifth generation of the open-standard reduced instruction set computer architecture - has become a viable alternative to proprietary architectures. These include Intel's x86, which dominates the personal computer market, and that of British firm Arm Holdings' eponymous architecture, which is widely used in the smartphone sector.
The C930's score exceeded 15 points per gigahertz on the SPECint2006 benchmark tests, which measure a CPU's performance, according to XianTue product information. That score shows how the C930 meets the requirement for RISC-V systems in high-performance computing applications.
At the chip's launch last month, Damo claimed that its IC design team has supported implementation of "more than 30 per cent of RISC-V high-performance processors". The Alibaba research arm previously rolled out several RISC-V-based processors under its XuanTie series, including the C920 last year and the C910 in 2019.
Damo also announced plans for new XuanTie processors including the C908X, R908A and XL200. These chips are designed for AI acceleration, automotive applications and high-speed interconnection, respectively.
Before Alibaba's sharpened focus on RISC-V, chips built on that architecture became popular for relatively low-end applications such as in earphones and headphones. RISC-V adoption for processors used in laptops and servers were marginal.
Meanwhile, China is expected to double down on its support for RISC-V semiconductor development. China plans to issue guidance to encourage the use of open-source RISC-V chips nationwide for the first time, according to a Reuters report last month, which cited sources briefed on the matter. The guidance could be released as soon as this month, the report said.
Global RISC-V system-on-a-chip unit shipments are projected to hit 16.2 billion by 2030, up from 1.3 billion in 2023, to reach a market size worth US$92.7 billion, according to a report by trade analyst SHD Group.
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