Cooperation and Competition Behind the Scenes in the RISC-V Community
Mark Himelstein, CTO of RISC-V International, explains how the open standard instruction set architecture (ISA) fosters a community of cooperation and competition among chip designers, from startups to multinationals like Qualcomm and NVIDIA. He details the organization's structure, which includes 70 technical groups working on specifications like vector extensions and upcoming matrix operations for AI, while navigating supply chain challenges and the transition from proprietary ISAs. Himelstein highlights that the shared software ecosystem—compilers, OS, and tools—is the primary glue keeping the community together, as no single entity can afford to build a new ISA alone. The episode covers the rapid ratification of specifications, the importance of development boards, and the strategic focus on Android support and AI/ML acceleration.