Alibaba Group Holding’s research arm, Damo Academy, has launched its Reduced Instructions Set Computing V (RISC-V) to boost its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. According to the company, the central processing unit (CPU) is the first server-grade produced by the company.
The research arm of the firm stated that the launch of RISC-V is in line with the company’s plans to boost its AI efforts and counter chip restrictions placed by the United States. According to the announcement made by Damo Academy on Friday, the company will begin shipping the new C930 chips to its clients globally beginning in March.
In its announcement, the Damo Academy mentioned that the recent processor is the latest addition to the XuanTie RISC-V series developed at Alibaba. It also added that it was designed for server-level and high-performance computing. The product, which is designed using the open-source RISC-V architecture, highlights the contribution of Alibaba to China’s chip self-sufficiency drive.
Alibaba’s research arm launches powerful C930 processor
Alibaba, based in Hangzhou, has been building a wide ecosystem around the RISC-V as the United States continues to increase tensions as it aims to control exports of advanced chips. RISC-V refers to the fifth generation of the Reduced Instructions Set Computing, a design that was majorly created to simplify architectures for CPUs.
The open-source nature of the project makes it open and readily available for any individual or firm to use and modify, unlike the x86 model that was created by Intel. The x86 model is a complex instruction set that dominates personal computers, using the eponymous proprietary architecture inspired by the RISC, which is majorly used in the smartphone market.
Over the last few years, Alibaba’s Damo Academy has launched several XuanTie processors based on the RISC-V model, including the C910 it produced in 2019, and the C920 that the company made last year. At the launch event, Damo Academy reiterated its focus on advancing the adoption of RISC-V in various fields that require high-end computing. It also added that the XuanTie team has also supported the implementation of about 30% of RISC-V high-performance processors.
Damo Academy set to release new XuanTie chips
In an announcement made by Damo Academy, the research arm of Alibaba mentioned that it has a development plan for new chips that will be created under the XuanTie series. Some of these chips include the C908X, R908A, and XL200. These chips will be deployed under different scenarios, with AI acceleration and automotive applications as their major focus. In addition, the company also added that they will also support high-speed interconnection.
The launch of these chips is coming after the tech firm announced a massive investment plan of about $52 billion (380 billion yuan) in artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure over the next three years. The company is presently the largest cloud service provider in China, and it is bracing up for the surging demands for AI models fueled by the popularity enjoyed by the low-cost, high-performance AI model designed by DeepSeek.
DeepSeek’s success has become a focal point for firms in the AI industry, with most firms racing against time to develop a better model. While the Grok AI model looks better according to experts, it is only a matter of time before companies start to build better LLMs at a fraction of the cost, thanks to the open-source ecosystem.
The company’s plan, which puts the total cost over its cumulative spending on AI infrastructure over the last 10 years, will result in the creation of more data centers and an increase in the creation and deployment of AI chips. Meanwhile, other firms in China have been moving forward with their creation of high-performance RISC-V CPUs. Last month, a team from the top government research organization, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, mentioned that it will deliver RISC-V-based XiangShan CPU this year. The team also mentioned that XiangShan has been designed to allow the adoption of the DeepSeek-R1 model that was recently released.
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