The software is not owned by any particular organization. It is managed by the Swiss-based non-profit organization RISC-V International and is made up of more than 4,000 companies (including Qualcomm, Google, Huawei, and Tencent) that help define the technical specifications. .
In the case of RISC-V, China has already cultivated an extensive ecosystem. He has more than 300 companies developing products using his RISC-V in this country, accounting for more than half of the market share of his RISC-V chips shipped around the world. China is second only to the United States in terms of high-tech startups and talent dedicated to RISC-V development, and could overtake China by 2030. A US withdrawal from RISC-V would only further accelerate China’s dominance.
When I worked at Kingston Technology, the world’s largest memory chip manufacturer, we participated in and endeavored to lead various international standards committees. It’s a known fact, and we were trying to influence the next generation of memory products in a positive way. Our annual capital expenditures, revenue projections and staffing were often dependent on how these committees coordinated manufacturing and technical specifications. The same goes for companies in South Korea, Taiwan, and mainland China.
This effect will put US companies at a disadvantage in price competition. You also lose the technical advantages that RISC-V provides: shorter development cycles, increased performance, and reduced power consumption. Never mind that RISC-V is completely free, whereas competitors Arm and Intel charge $1 million to $10 million in licensing fees and up to 2% royalties per chip. there is no. (Last year, Arm’s annual revenue exceeded his US$2.6 billion mark.)
If China can control the future of RISC-V, Chinese companies could one day lead the world in next-generation products for the world’s most important industries, such as consumer electronics, automotive, and aerospace.
The US government has not yet made a convincing argument that RISC-V poses a clear and present danger to national security. The RISC-V architecture is primarily developed by consumer companies that make smartphones, automotive electronics, and kitchen appliances. For example, Meta announced that he will employ his RISC-V to perform some of his AI computing, and Google and Qualcomm will co-develop his RISC-V-based wearable devices.
The US-China high-tech war hinges on who gains semiconductor supremacy
The US-China high-tech war hinges on who gains semiconductor supremacy
Ultimately, the US withdrawal from the RISC-V market will directly impact China’s hands. It would give Beijing exactly what it wanted: unrestricted access to cutting-edge chip technology without U.S. constraints.
Furthermore, if the United States voluntarily relinquishes its status as a RISC-V stakeholder, the country’s global influence would decline. U.S. allies will have to make uncomfortable choices about whether to abandon emerging and promising technologies. Their decision may disappoint China hawks in the US.
Biden’s recent chip sanctions have had limited success in thwarting China and strengthening U.S. security. The decision to withdraw from RISC-V will not only fail by these metrics. That would strengthen America’s biggest rival. Effective words backfire again.
Stanley Chao is a former vice president at US semiconductor manufacturer Kingston Technology and author of Selling to China: A Guide for Small Businesses.