A new front in the chip war between China and the United States: RISC-V
In today's wave of technological development, chips undoubtedly play a vital role. As the "heart" of electronic equipment, the performance and function of the chip directly determine the operating efficiency and intelligence level of the equipment. Mastering advanced chip design and manufacturing technology is the key to ensuring national security and economic development for any country. In this protracted Sino-US science and technology war, chip technology has naturally become the focus of the wrestling between the two sides.
The historical origin of the chip dispute between China and the United States
The competition between China and the United States in the field of chips did not happen overnight. The war dates back to the '80s, when the U.S. government began restricting exports of advanced chip technology to China. Over time, U.S. chip export controls to China became stricter until 2022, when the Biden administration introduced a series of draconian bans that cut off China's access to advanced U.S. chips and chip manufacturing equipment.
In the face of the complete blockade by the United States, the Chinese government and enterprises have to increase their independent research and development efforts to achieve independent and controllable chip industry. In this process, RISC-V, an open-source instruction set architecture, came into being and became an important tool for China to break through the U.S. technology blockade.
The rise of RISC-V and its importance
RISC-V is an open-source instruction set architecture (ISA) based on reduced instruction sets, which was first proposed by computer scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2010. Unlike traditional closed instruction set architectures, RISC-V's instruction sets and associated documentation are completely open and free to use, modify, and redistribute by any person or organization.
This concept of openness and sharing has enabled RISC-V to quickly gain widespread attention and application around the world. NASA has chosen RISC-V for future space exploration missions, Meta has applied it to artificial intelligence, and Chinese engineers have used RISC-V for data encryption, among other things. RISC-V is becoming a bridge that connects different fields and drives technological innovation.
For China, the importance of RISC-V is self-evident. In the context of the U.S. blockade of chip technology in China, RISC-V provides a way for Chinese enterprises and government agencies to independently develop chip technology. With its openness and portability, China is expected to design high-performance, safe and controllable chip products on the basis of RISC-V, and get rid of dependence on American technology.
U.S. concerns and countermeasures to RISC-V
The rise of RISC-V has also triggered a high degree of vigilance in the United States. Last year, the U.S. Congressional Select Committee on Strategic Competition recommended the creation of an interagency working group to assess the risks that RISC-V could pose. The committee believes that China is trying to use the RISC-V architecture to weaken U.S. export control measures.
In addition to Congress, there are also concerns within the U.S. government about the development of RISC-V. Biden administration officials have met with members of Congress on the issue to explore the possibility of expanding export controls to discourage U.S. citizens from assisting China in developing RISC-V technology, according to people familiar with the matter. British chip design company Arm has also lobbied the U.S. government for a control over RISC-V.
The main reasons for the worries of the United States are as follows:
Military security risks
The U.S. is concerned that China's RISC-V architecture-designed chips could be used to develop advanced weapons systems, threatening U.S. military superiority.
The battle for technological dominance
RISC-V, as an open-source architecture, means that any individual or organization can innovate on top of it, which may shake the dominance of American chip giants such as Intel and AMD under traditional closed architectures.
Brain and IP outflow
Americans have been important contributors to the RISC-V community. Once the controls are imposed, there is a risk that these talents and intellectual property will flow to China, accelerating China's catch-up in the field of chip design.
Impact on allies
RISC-V has been widely used in a variety of fields, and U.S. regulation of it could affect the interests of allies and undermine U.S. influence in the field of science and technology.
In the face of these risks, the U.S. government is weighing the pros and cons and exploring what controls to take for RISC-V. However, RISC-V has become a new front in the chip war between China and the United States, and the future trend will directly affect the victory or defeat of both sides in this war.
The complexity and impact of RISC-V governance
Due to the open-source nature of RISC-V, it is not easy to effectively control it. RISC-V's instruction set and related documentation have long been widely circulated on the Internet, and it is almost impossible to completely block them. The RISC-V community is made up of developers from all over the world, and it was also a big challenge to align control measures with the right targets and avoid impacting allies.
RISC-V is widely used in many fields such as science and technology, industry, and medical care, and once it is regulated, it will inevitably have an impact on the global industrial chain. Some people worry that this may exacerbate the trend of "de-playerization" in the technology sector, further deepening the confrontation and decoupling between China and the United States in the technology field.
Some experts believe that even if the United States imposes controls on RISC-V, its impact may be overstated. RISC-V is just an instruction set architecture, and the real core technology lies in the design and manufacturing process of the chip. As long as China's capabilities in these two key areas are limited, the role of RISC-V will also be greatly limited.
The RISC-V controversy reflects that the competition between China and the United States in the field of chips has escalated to a new height, and both sides are actively seeking breakthroughs and commanding heights. The outcome of this war will not only determine the dominance of both sides in the field of science and technology, but also profoundly affect the future pattern of the global technology ecosystem.
The rise of RISC-V has brought new opportunities for China to break through the US technology blockade, but it has also triggered a high degree of vigilance and countermeasures from the United States. In this protracted chip war between China and the United States, RISC-V has undoubtedly become a new front.
The contest between the two sides on this front is not only related to the development direction of chip technology, but also will determine the future map of technological competition. It is necessary for us to maintain a high degree of attention, prudent the development of the situation, and contribute to the independent development of China's chip industry.