RISC-V chip tech curb on China ‘to harm US firms’

The US is reportedly working to review the potential risks of RISC-V chip technology being used by major Chinese technology companies, which is seen as a new front of the expanding technology war initiated by the US that aims to curb China’s development in the sector.

Observers said that the US will find it difficult to restrict China on RISC-V technology, if it does so, US companies could bear huge losses and the global supply chain could be affected.

The US Department of Commerce is reviewing the national security implications of China’s work in open-source RISC-V chip technology, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing a letter the department sent to US lawmakers.

Any restrictions could set off a chain reaction and create uncertainty for the initiators themselves, according to Zhang Xiaorong, director of the Beijing-based Cutting-Edge Technology Research Institute.

US Commerce Department also noted that it would need to tread carefully to avoid harming US companies. Previous controls on transferring 5G technology to China created roadblocks for US firms working in international standards bodies where China was also a participant, according to Reuters.

RISC-V is a set of basic instructions that tell a chip how to perform a computing task. It provides a common language for designing processors used in devices such as smartphones, disk drives, Wi-Fi routers and tablets, according to RISC-V International.

Since RISC-V is an open-source technology, if the US imposes restrictions, it will slow down the global development of the technology, said Ma Jihua, a veteran telecom industry observer.

RISC-V International moved its headquarters from the US to Switzerland in March 2020 in part to insulate itself from the creeping influence of geopolitics on the chip industry. This move severely limits the US government’s regulatory options, said an analysis published by the Center for Security and Emerging Technology.