The chief executive of RISC-V International has warned that government restrictions on the open-source chip technology could slow down the development of new and better chips, holding back the global technology industry.<\/p>\n
Calista Redmond’s comments come after a growing group of U.S. lawmakers called on the Biden administration to impose export control restrictions on RISC-V, citing national security concerns.<\/p>\n
RISC-V is an open-source instruction set architecture (ISA) that can be used to design chips for a wide range of applications, from smartphones to artificial intelligence. Major U.S. firms such as Qualcomm and Google have embraced RISC-V, but so too have Chinese firms such as Huawei.<\/p>\n
In a blog post, Redmond said that RISC-V is no different from other open technology standards such as Ethernet, and that restrictions on RISC-V would have the consequence of diminished access to the global marketplace of products, solutions, and talent.<\/p>\n
Redmond also pointed out that RISC-V has drawn contributions in equal measure from North America, Europe, and Asia, and that the standards published by the foundation are not a full blueprint for a chip.<\/p>\n
“The only difference is that the marketplace is allowed to use these standards without proprietary licenses from a controlling company,” Redmond wrote. “Having access to open standards allows companies to innovate faster and spend their time creating differentiated products, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel.”<\/p>\n