Damo Academy, Alibaba Group Holding’s analysis arm, has launched its first server-grade central processing unit (CPU), in line with a current piece in the South China Morning Post.* Designed for server-level, high-performance computing (HPC), the brand new chip, C930, is the newest addition to Alibaba’s XuanTie RISC-V processor sequence.
At a Beijing convention on Friday, Damo revealed that the chips would ship to shoppers in March. The C930 marks Alibaba’s newest effort to strengthen China’s self-sufficiency in semiconductor improvement amid ongoing U.S. export controls on superior chips. The corporate has been constructing its personal ecosystem across the open-source RISC-V structure, which has gained traction in China as an alternative choice to proprietary designs from Western companies resembling Intel and Arm.
Damo additionally introduced a improvement plan for added chips beneath the XuanTie sequence, together with the C908X for AI acceleration, the R908A for automotive functions, and the XL200 for high-speed interconnection.
Alibaba’s semiconductor efforts come amid heightened geopolitical tensions surrounding superior chip know-how. In 2024, the Washington, D.C.-based suppose tank Jamestown Basis launched a report outlining China’s rising funding in RISC-V as a strategic transfer to bypass U.S. sanctions.
Alibaba’s Damo Academy showcased at an exhibition, that includes a outstanding signboard. (Supply: Weibo)
Equally, a U.S. Division of Protection report launched in December detailed China’s broader efforts to scale back dependence on overseas know-how whereas fostering integration between navy and civilian technological developments.
China’s dedication to RISC-V improvement has been evident in current months. Final August, researchers detailed new high-performance RISC-V chip designs and software program developments, reinforcing the nation’s ambition to construct a aggressive various to Western semiconductor ecosystems.
In the meantime, U.S. chipmakers resembling Nvidia have sought workarounds to proceed supplying AI chips to China, albeit with modified designs that adjust to export restrictions. Typically, Alibaba’s rising investments in RISC-V align with China’s broader industrial technique to develop homegrown options in response to geopolitical pressures affecting world semiconductor provide chains.
The announcement of the brand new chips comes shortly after the corporate dedicated to investing 380 billion yuan (~US$52 billion) into AI and cloud infrastructure over the following three years. Already China’s largest cloud supplier, Alibaba goals to broaden its capability to help rising demand for AI-driven functions, significantly as native startups like DeepSeek achieve traction with cost-effective, high-performance fashions. This funding is anticipated to result in the development of further knowledge facilities and broader adoption of AI chips in China.
The South China Morning Submit famous as properly that different Chinese language corporations are additionally advancing their RISC-V chip improvement efforts. A analysis crew from the Chinese language Academy of Sciences not too long ago introduced that it will ship its RISC-V-based XiangShan CPU this 12 months. The crew additional reported that it had modified the XiangShan chip to accommodate DeepSeek-R1.
*Alibaba has owned the South China Morning Submit since 2016.
