Intel and Softbank Beware. Open Source Is Coming to the Chip Business
- Intel, ARM targeted by project that began as a teaching tool
- Big tech companies explore RISC-V in search of ‘freedom’
Photographer: David Silverman/Getty Images
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After revolutionizing software, the open-source movement is threatening to do same to the chip industry.
Big technology companies have begun dabbling with RISC-V, which replaces proprietary know-how in a key part of the chip design process with a free standard that anyone can use. While it’s early days, this could create a new crop of processors that compete with Intel Corp. products and whittle away at the licensing business of Arm Holdings Plc.