Now that is cool... it's a custom 64-core RISC-V implementation with its own matrix instructions that can run desktop inference at 30tok/s (with Qwen3.8-27B) without a GPU.
However, this is technically just an IP core. And even though it has been tested in hardware prototypes, there are no mass-produced products that are using it yet that we know of.
Porting Hurd to RISC-V??? Why? Last I knew they hadn't added amd64 or UEFI support, adding a whole other ISA seems a little over ambitious for that project if you ask me
That's what freedom looks like.
Beautiful. We in the West are blissfully oblivious to countries and regions outside our own. I've had to explain to people that third world countries aren't poor because people are stupid there, it's because we have and still do exploit them, but they will move forward despite that. Nobody and nothing stays number one forever.
As we rest on our laurels and burn up the planet, there are still billions who can and will take over once we stumble. Countries lucky enough to have been on the right end of the stick are decreasing in population and need workers from abroad. Those will inevitably learn, take that back home and apply it.
What's available outside of the West will dominate sooner or later. It doesn't have to be perfect to do so.
he made a 3D-printed three-prong fork-like tool to program each MCU. He then took said tool and attached it to the 3D printer's carriage, and used a Python script issuing direct G-code to the printer to precisely aim it at each MCU in the board.
Requires a 3D printer to program.
Now you have got my attention.
oh, but they don't want it to be easier, else there would be too little superiority
/s a bit
Would be hella easier if they didn't have over 9000 different hieroglyphs and if they didn't have such wildly different words/meanings with barely percetible phonetical differences (the shi shi shi poem is a great example).
Also if pinyin wasn't such a phonetical piece of shit. Seriously, the sound "tze" is written as "ce", "dje" is written as "zhe". What the fucking fuck
In Eastern Europe, and from friends that lived in the countries neighbouring China
I dunno where you are but China has quite a negative image in Europe. Most people aren't even aware that Tiktok is Chinese (well, maybe not anymore after the hostile Trump takeover). Besides that, I don't know anything positive about China being shown here. No movies, series,... maybe Chinese tech like solar panels and stuff, but that's not media.
Where are you seeing Chinese marketing and ads?
I don't agree with them not having strong marketing and ad, China does a lot to make a good image and interest people. Maybe the availability of such marketing content depends on the region, though
Before English, German and French were the lingua franca's of the world. Then Hitler came along and fucked that up for Europe, the US took advantage and spread its defaults around the world, now Trump is here and it may be the end of that. If China's clever, they'll do more than just owning supply chains and actually try to spread their language and world view.
From the looks of it, that's one thing they haven't understood yet: you need a strong marketing and ad machine to really take over in the hearts of people. Material ownership can be reversed more quickly than cultural and mental. There are still lots of people who will continue to speak English, make English content, and spread US culture around the world long after the US hegemony falls. If China's only legacy is material and not in world-wide language and culture, it will be quickly forgotten.
It was like that (bar Linux) for many centuries, it may happen again. Albeit I must admit, learning Chinese is way harder than learning English
The point is that English is dominating for many reasons but in tech it's because it spread everywhere. If China decided to invest in Linux and spread it everywhere, at some point they'd stop communicating in English just to fit in. There would be innovative things coming out of China that other non-Chinese speaking people would want and they'd have to translate it or learn the language.
No we wouldn't. China is plenty adept at what they do in the world with English.
I was hoping it would be an announcement about a linux smartphone from China. But who knows, it may come. If China decided to go all in on Linux, we'd all have to start learning Chinese.
Are there cheaper, comparable RISC-V SBCs?
Well part of it I'm sure is the artificial inflation of the AI bubble for one. And the other is probably the perpetual "these are bespoke developer kit. Not really intended for general consumers" etc. Even the once affordable Raspberry Pi is easily 2-4 times it's original price now. I'd love an affordable SBC to tinker and learn with. But no one is making those.
Seems kind of expensive for what it is. Feel free to tell me why I'm wrong.
How long has it been that risc-v processors are melt in numbers? I feel the arch got out of its paper form a bunch of years ago only?
A powerful, RVA23-complaint 64-bit RISC-V
Nice!
for Edge AI
Oh, nvm
Ideal for experienced platform and RISC-V developers, OS porting engineers, and system integrators...
As expected, doesn't really affect normal Application Software.
On the other hand, it's $0. So worth checking out either way.
Ok. Very exciting. But is it actually available for purchase anywhere?
Can an SBC maker even buy it yet?
Heres a highlight from the report:
In this respect the Server SoC and Boot requirements specifications have now been ratified and, by the end of 2026, the long-anticipated RISC-V Server Platform specification is expected to be officially ratified. Alongside RVA23, this will define a standardized set of hardware and firmware requirements (covering unified boot architecture, memory management, interconnects, runtime service etc.) for RISC-V servers, ensuring that high- end RISC-V systems can run enterprise OSes and software out-of-the-box with consistent behavior. In May 2025 UEFI published ACPI 6.6, the latest version of the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) specification, which for the first time includes native RISC-V support. This makes it easier for data center operators to deploy RISC-V hardware by allowing RISC-V servers to plug into the same firmware and operating system ecosystem already used elsewhere in the data center, reducing risk for adopters and simplifying deployment and management.
Looks like RISC-V Server spec will include UEFI among other things important for desktop systems, which was my last gripe with the RISC specs. Finally, PC compatible RISC-V that just works?^tm^
The most interesting chip is the Tenstorrent Ascalon. They are releasing a version on their own Silicon called Atlantis. Ascalon-X is expected to match AMD Zen 5 performance.
https://tenstorrent.com/en/ip/tt-ascalon
There is also the Spacemit K3 and a few others. Maybe Qualcomm will surprise us with something.
i was thinking of it more in the way of how ARM came to be. they took RISC, built upon and extended it, with the end result being proprietary processors which weren't RISC anymore.
i strongly doubt that anything qualcomm will create would contribute to the risc-v ecosystem at a whole. on the other hand, maybe it's an important step for it's mass adoption. time will tell