US lawmakers press Biden for plans on Chinese use of open chip technology

US lawmakers press Biden for plans on Chinese use of open chip technology

US firms such as Qualcomm and Alphabet's Google have embraced RISC-V, but so too have many Chinese companies.
US lawmakers press Biden for plans on Chinese use of open chip technology

Ibrahim

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6 Nov 2023

US President Joe Biden holds a semiconductor chip as he speaks prior to signing an executive order, aimed at addressing a global semiconductor chip shortage, in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, US, February 24, 2021. / Photo: Reuters

A wider bipartisan group of US lawmakers is asking the Biden administration about its plans to respond to China's rising use of RISC-V chip design technology after Reuters last month reported on growing concerns about it in both houses of Congress.

 

RISC-V, pronounced "risk five," is a free open-source technology that competes with costly proprietary technology from British semiconductor and software design company Arm Holdings and Intel Corp.

 

It can be used as a key part of anything from a smartphone chip to advanced processors for artificial intelligence.

 

US firms such as Qualcomm and Alphabet's Google have embraced RISC-V, but so too have many Chinese companies.

 

Reuters last month reported that at least four influential US lawmakers view Chinese use of the technology as a potential national security threat because RISC-V is not captured by the sweeping export controls the US has imposed on sending chip technology to China.

 

Now, a broader group of 18 lawmakers that includes five Democrats is asking the Biden administration for how it plans to prevent China "from achieving dominance in ... RISC-V technology and leveraging that dominance at the expense of US national and economic security," according to a letter the group sent to Raimondo and seen by Reuters.

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