The US-China tech war has now extended to an open-source chip architecture called RISC-V. Lawmakers, including Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Democratic Senator Mark Warner, are pressuring President Joe Biden's administration to restrict American companies from working on RISC-V, citing national security concerns.
RISC-V is a freely available chip technology that competes with proprietary technology from Arm Holdings. It can be used in various applications, from smartphone chips to advanced processors for artificial intelligence. Lawmakers are worried that Beijing is taking advantage of the open collaboration culture among American companies to advance its semiconductor industry, which could undermine America's leading position in chip technology and potentially bolster China's military modernization efforts.
Representative Mike Gallagher, chairman of the House select committee on China, has called on the US Commerce Department to require export licenses for any American company working with Chinese entities on RISC-V technology. This move represents the first major attempt to regulate US companies' involvement with RISC-V.
Lawmakers argue that the Chinese Communist Party is exploiting RISC-V to circumvent US intellectual property rights in chip design and that the export control laws need to be strengthened to address this threat. If the US Bureau of Industry and Security, responsible for export control regulations, fails to take action, lawmakers are prepared to pursue legislation.
While RISC-V is overseen by a nonprofit foundation based in Switzerland that facilitates collaboration among for-profit companies, both China and the US have embraced the technology. Chinese company Huawei Technologies sees RISC-V as crucial for its chip development, while US chip giant Qualcomm is collaborating with European automotive firms on RISC-V chips, and Google plans to make its Android operating system compatible with RISC-V chips.
Imposing restrictions on US companies' participation in the Swiss-based foundation as lawmakers propose could complicate collaboration between American and Chinese companies on open technical standards. It may also hamper China's goal of achieving chip self-sufficiency and impede the efforts of US and European companies to create more affordable and versatile chips.
Regulating discussions around technologies is less common than regulating physical products but is not impossible. Existing regulations on chip exports could potentially serve as a legal framework for the proposal. However, such regulations could have significant negative implications for technology development, innovation, and job creation, according to industry experts.
The battle over RISC-V reflects the broader US-China tech war and the increasing importance of chip technology in various industries.
