Being one of the world's biggest markets for PCs and microprocessors, China consumes all kinds of CPUs designed by domestic and foreign companies. Domestic companies like Huawei and Zhaoxin have developed Arm and x86-based CPUs, which enables them to take advantage of industry-leading ecosystems. However, as China moves towards semiconductor self-sustainability, the Chinese government wants to encourage using open-source RISC-V CPUs, reports Reuters.
China is set to introduce new policies promoting the nationwide use of open-source RISC-V chips, aiming to reduce its reliance on foreign technologies, such as x86 and Arm. The initiative was drafted by eight government agencies, including the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the China National Intellectual Property Administration. Once enacted, it will mark the first official government push for RISC-V adoption in China. The upcoming policy could be announced as early as this month, though the exact release date remains uncertain.
Several major Chinese companies are already investing in RISC-V. Alibaba's XuanTie and Nuclei System Technology are two of the country's leading providers of commercial RISC-V processors. Eventually, Chinese chip developers could build RISC-V-based processors for AI applications (something that Tenstorrent does in the U.S.). While initially, those processors will hardly be competitive with those from Nvidia in terms of performance, they will be significantly cheaper and designed in China, precisely something the PRC's government encourages. This affordability could encourage wider adoption, particularly among smaller AI firms seeking efficient, lower-cost solutions.
However, while developing RISC-V hardware is important, creating a software ecosystem for RISC-V CPUs and processors is no less critical. Arm and x86 are supported by a wide range of operating systems and programs, unlike RISC-V, which can boast limited compatibility with software. Also, if someone attempts to build AI processors based on RISC-V, they will have to create an ecosystem like Nvidia's CUDA, which will be particularly hard as it took over a decade to make.
RISC-V is an open-source instruction set architecture (ISA) that competes with proprietary technologies such as x86, controlled by Intel and AMD, and Arm, developed by Arm Holdings. Nowadays, RISC-V is often used for microcontrollers and lower-performance CPUs, but since usage of the actual ISA does not require paying licensing fees and its development is not controlled by one or two companies from the West, it is gaining traction worldwide in general and in China in particular. Chinese research institutions and government-backed entities have increasingly embraced the technology, but until now, no official policy has supported its use.
The growing Chinese interest in RISC-V has sparked concerns in the U.S. In 2023, some American lawmakers urged the Biden administration to limit domestic companies from working on RISC-V projects and extending the ISA, fearing China could use its open-source nature to strengthen the capabilities and performance of its processors. With technology at the center of U.S.-China tensions, RISC-V's expansion in China could become another point of conflict.
Following reports of the policy, multiple Chinese semiconductor companies saw their stock prices rise sharply. Companies such as VeriSilicon, ASR Microelectronics, Shanghai Anlogic Infotech, and 3Peak recorded gains ranging from 8.6% to 15.4%, with VeriSilicon hitting the daily 10% increase limit, according to Reuters.
