RISC-V Group Says Restrictions on Open Technology Would Slow Innovation

The chief executive of RISC-V International says that possible government restrictions on the open-source technology will slow down the development of new and better chips, holding back the global technology industry. From a report: The comments come after Reuters last week reported that a growing group of U.S. lawmakers are calling on the Biden administration to impose export control restrictions around RISC-V, the open-source technology overseen by the RISC-V International nonprofit foundation. RISC-V technology can be used as an ingredient to create chips for smartphones or artificial intelligence. Major U.S. firms such as Qualcomm and Alphabet's Google have embraced RISC-V, but so too have Chinese firms such as Huawei, which the U.S. lawmakers argue constitutes a national security concern.

In a blog post, Calista Redmond, chief of RISC-V International, which coordinates work among companies on the technology, said RISC-V is no different than other open technology standards like Ethernet, which helps computers on the internet talk with each other. "Contemplated actions by governments for an unprecedented restriction in open standards will have the consequence of diminished access to the global marketplace of products, solutions, and talent," Redmond wrote. "Bifurcating on the standards level would lead to a world of incompatible solutions that duplicate effort and close off markets."

Idiots

[dynamo]

Iâ(TM)m not sure why America thinks it has control over this open standard, but if it actually does, and it tries to pull this, All it will accomplish is to destroy RISC-V and Force other countries to start using a new standard, which the US will have control over. The word standard means itâ(TM)s the same everywhere and accessible everywhere. Politicians are idiots, ESPECIALLY in the US.

Re:

[ichthus]

I'm not sure why America thinks it has control over this open standard

How can it? It's an open-source design -- it's data. No more would they have control over this than the Linux kernel, or any other open-source project.

Article does not mention government motive.

[gurps_npc]

The article complains about government regulation slowing progress. It does not mention why the government wanted the regulation.

Let me be clear, ALL government regulations slow progress. Most of the time it is worth it. I think everyone will agree that government restrictions on Thalidomide (dangerous sedative that causes birth defects, but has real medical advantages) are a good thing even though it slowed progress on certain cancers.

This is incredibly bad reporting.

The purpose of the RISC-V regulation is because RISC-V chips are used in certain US military devices. If you trust China with some of America's technological secrets, then obviously you should not regulate the RISC-V technology. If you think the US should not trust China with it's military secrets, then the relatively small loss in technological innovation is a no brainer, and the regulations are obviously a good thing.

Talking about the issue without even mentioning the fact that the RISC-V technology is a military secret is the kind of thing someone does after they have been bribed by foreign 'lobbyists'.

Note, I am not myself embracing an opinion on whether the technology should or should not be regulated. I dot know whether the RISC-V is an important government secret, or junk.

I do however know that not mentioning the military aspects of it is a corrupt bit of reporting and the reporter should be fired. (or disconnected if it is a ChatBot.

Re:

[r0nc0]

Doesn't that mean that the specific implementation of RISC-V used in military hardware is off-limits while the open source standard is... open source? Just how would the US attempt to regulate the open aspect of RISC-V?

Re:

[dfghjk]

"Just how would the US attempt to regulate the open aspect of RISC-V?"

The same way it regulates everything else. "Open aspect" means nothing.