Damo Academy, Alibaba Group Holding’s research arm, has launched its first server-grade central processing unit (CPU), marking a significant step in the tech giant’s efforts to boost its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and counter US chip restrictions.
Advertisement
The new chip, called C930, is the latest addition to Alibaba’s XuanTie RISC-V processor series. Designed for server-level, high-performance computing, the C930 will begin shipping to clients in March, Damo announced at a conference in Beijing on Friday.
The latest product, which is based on the open-source RISC-V architecture, highlights Alibaba’s efforts in recent years to contribute to China’s chip self-sufficiency drive. The Hangzhou-based company has been building an ecosystem around RISC-V amid heightened US export controls on advanced chips. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
The name RISC-V refers to the fifth generation of the Reduced Instruction Set Computer, a design philosophy for simplified architectures for CPUs. As an open-source project, it is free for anyone to use and modify, unlike competing standards such as Intel’s x86, a complex instruction set that dominates personal computers, and Arm’s eponymous proprietary RISC-inspired architecture, which dominates the smartphone market.
Damo has previously launched several XuanTie processors based on RISC-V, including the C910 in 2019 and the C920 last year. At the Friday event, the academy emphasised its role in advancing RISC-V adoption in various high-end fields, noting that the XuanTie team has supported the implementation of more than 30 per cent of RISC-V high-performance processors.
Damo also announced a development plan for new chips under the XuanTie series, including the C908X, R908A, and XL200. These chips are intended for scenarios including AI acceleration, automotive applications and high-speed interconnection, respectively.
Advertisement
The launch of the new chips came days after the tech giant announced an aggressive investment plan of at least 380 billion yuan (US$52 billion) in AI and cloud infrastructure over the next three years. The company, which is China’s largest cloud provider, aims to meet surging demand for AI models fuelled by the recent popularity of the high-performance, low-cost models developed by Hangzhou-based start-up DeepSeek.