SiFive Lays Off Hundreds of RISC-V Developers (Update)

Update: October 26, 03:36 PT: SiFive has contacted More Than Moore and the site has issued a correction. Reports regarding the roadmap change, from pre-designed to custom cores are untrue. The roadmap is being enhanced, claims SiFive, with the recent addition of new cores being part of that enhancement.

Update: October 24, 5:22 p.m. ET: SiFive sent Tom's Hardware a statement via email. This story has been updated to reflect the newest information.

SiFive, one of the key companies in the RISC-V ecosystem, is undergoing a significant restructuring marked by extensive layoffs and apparently a shift in business focus, reports More Than Moore. 

RISC-V has become quite a popular choice for making miniature low-cost cores, but there are several companies who are working on higher-performance RISC-V-based offerings. SiFive is one of such companies offering ready-to-use designs and also making custom cores based on what customers need. But now, SiFive has laid off somewhere between 100 to over 300 employees from around 700 in mid-October. Most of these were engineers, along with some sales and product personnel. Meanwhile, the company's leaders, including CEO Patrick Little, are still there. 

“In a statement sent to Tom’s Hardware late on Tuesday, SiFive confirmed that it was laying off about 20% of its employees (~ 140) from a variety of different groups.“As we identify and focus on our greatest opportunities, SiFive is shifting to best meet our customers' fast-changing requirements by undergoing a strategic refocusing of all our global teams,” a statement by SiFive reads. “Unfortunately, with this realignment, approximately 20% of employees across all different business groups and levels were impacted. The employees are receiving severance and outplacement assistance.”

The company also plans to offer standard and custom products for a variety of applications, including automotive, consumer, datacenters, artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and wearables.

“We remain focused on our four product groups, essential, intelligence, performance and automotive, and as we explained in a press event earlier this month, have a robust roadmap to meet the needs of these markets,” the statement clarifies. We see tremendous new opportunities in AI and with consumer products like wearables and mobile as Google brings Android to the RISC-V ecosystem. We will continue to offer customization for specific customers, offering standard and custom products where it makes sense from a business standpoint.”

The company remains optimistic about its future as it is well funded and expects demand for its products to remain high. “SiFive continues to be excited about the long-term opportunities for the company and for RISC-V,” the company stated. “The growth of the company has never been stronger and the opportunities never better. We are well funded for years in the future and continue to work with the market leaders in every segment.”

The ramifications of SiFive’s restructuring raise pertinent questions regarding its future trajectory and influence within the RISC-V sector. The organizational changes, marked by significant layoffs and a potential shift in business strategy, cast uncertainty over the company’s forthcoming contributions to RISC-V standards and its broader impact on the industry’s evolutionary path.”