Tech war: China bets on open-source RISC-V for chip design to minimise potential damage from ‘being cut off’ by US sanctions

RISC-V International publishes open standard ISA based on US-origin reduced instruction set computer (RISC) principles. Experts say China’s adoption of open-source RISC-V architecture would not shield them from all US sanction risks, as US dominates in EDA tools. — SCMP

A growing number of Chinese chip design firms have adopted open-source RISC-V in their chip designs as an alternative to Intel’s proprietary X86 and Arm’s architecture, in a bid to minimise potential damage from US sanctions and to save on licensing fees.

Of the 20 “premier members” of RISC-V International, the non-profit organisation which changed its base to Switzerland in 2020 to avoid certain US trade regulations, half are Chinese, including Huawei Technologies Co – currently subject to US trade sanctions – as well as Alibaba Cloud, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group Holding, owner of the South China Morning Post.