Latest news with #C930
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How Alibaba's new RISC-V chip hits the mark for China's tech self-sufficiency drive
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. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. "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. This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How Alibaba's new RISC-V chip hits the mark for China's tech self-sufficiency drive
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. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. "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. This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
South China Morning Post
10-03-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
How Alibaba's new RISC-V chip hits the mark for China's tech self-sufficiency drive
Advertisement 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. '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. Advertisement
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is RISC-V the future of compute? Alibaba thinks so as it launches a new server-grade chip that will compete with Xeon and EPYC CPUs
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Alibaba's DAMO Academy has launched its first server-grade RISC-V processor The C930 is designed for high-performance computing, rivaling Intel and AMD's offerings RISC-V's open-source design avoids licensing fees and geopolitical restrictions Alibaba has launched its first server-grade RISC-V processor, the C930, designed for high-performance computing and positioned as an alternative to Intel Xeon and AMD EPYC CPUs. The new chip, developed by Alibaba's research arm DAMO Academy (short for Discovery, Adventure, Momentum and Outlook), was announced at a conference in Beijing and is the latest addition to Alibaba's XuanTie RISC-V processor series, which includes the C910 launched in 2019 and the C920 released in 2023. In response to the ever-tightening US trade restrictions on advanced technology exports, Chinese firms such as Alibaba's DAMO Academy, Huawei, and Tencent have been ramping up efforts to develop their own chips to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers. RISC-V in particular is gaining traction in China due to its open source nature, which allows companies to design and customize processors without the licensing fees or geopolitical risks associated with proprietary architectures like x86 and Arm. The Chinese Academy of Sciences is set to introduce its own RISC-V-based XiangShan CPU this year. At the Beijing conference, DAMO Academy also outlined future plans for the XuanTie processor series, which includes the development of new chips for use in AI accelerators, automotive computing, and high-speed interconnection. A report from the South China Morning Post, which is owned by Alibaba, states, 'The launch of the new chips came days after the tech giant announced an aggressive investment plan of at least 380 billion yuan (US$52 billion) in AI and cloud infrastructure over the next three years. The company, which is China's largest cloud provider, aims to meet surging demand for AI models fuelled by the recent popularity of the high-performance, low-cost models developed by Hangzhou-based start-up DeepSeek.' The reports adds the planned outlay exceeds Alibaba's total spending on AI infrastructure over the past decade and will lead to the construction of more data centers across China. The new C930 server processor is expected to begin shipping to clients later in March 2025. British startup Blueshift Memory launches low-power RISC-V processor One of the largest Chinese companies has announced a 3,072-core RISC-V server 2025 will be the year of the first quasi-mainstream RISC-V laptop
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alibaba's research arm launches new RISC-V processor for high-performance computing
Damo Academy, Alibaba Group Holding's research arm, has launched its first server-grade central processing unit (CPU), marking a significant step in the tech giant's efforts to boost its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and counter US chip restrictions. The new chip, called C930, is the latest addition to Alibaba's XuanTie RISC-V processor series. Designed for server-level, high-performance computing, the C930 will begin shipping to clients in March, Damo announced at a conference in Beijing on Friday. The latest product, which is based on the open-source RISC-V architecture, highlights Alibaba's efforts in recent years to contribute to China's chip self-sufficiency drive. The Hangzhou-based company has been building an ecosystem around RISC-V amid heightened US export controls on advanced chips. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. A signboard for Alibaba research arm Damo Academy pictured at an exhibition. Photo: Weibo alt=A signboard for Alibaba research arm Damo Academy pictured at an exhibition. Photo: Weibo> The name RISC-V refers to the fifth generation of the Reduced Instruction Set Computer, a design philosophy for simplified architectures for CPUs. As an open-source project, it is free for anyone to use and modify, unlike competing standards such as Intel's x86, a complex instruction set that dominates personal computers, and Arm's eponymous proprietary RISC-inspired architecture, which dominates the smartphone market. Damo has previously launched several XuanTie processors based on RISC-V, including the C910 in 2019 and the C920 last year. At the Friday event, the academy emphasised its role in advancing RISC-V adoption in various high-end fields, noting that the XuanTie team has supported the implementation of more than 30 per cent of RISC-V high-performance processors. Damo also announced a development plan for new chips under the XuanTie series, including the C908X, R908A, and XL200. These chips are intended for scenarios including AI acceleration, automotive applications and high-speed interconnection, respectively. The launch of the new chips came days after the tech giant announced an aggressive investment plan of at least 380 billion yuan (US$52 billion) in AI and cloud infrastructure over the next three years. The company, which is China's largest cloud provider, aims to meet surging demand for AI models fuelled by the recent popularity of the high-performance, low-cost models developed by Hangzhou-based start-up DeepSeek. The planned outlay, which exceeds Alibaba's total spending on AI infrastructure over the past decade, is expected to see the construction of more data centres and increased deployment of AI chips. Other Chinese chipmakers have also been developing high-performance RISC-V CPUs. Last month, a team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a top government research organisation, announced that it would deliver its RISC-V-based XiangShan CPU this year. The team said earlier this month that it had adapted XiangShan to support DeepSeek-R1, the popular reasoning model released in late January. This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
