Sign up to save tools and stay up to date with the latest in AI
bg
bg
1

Do you DARE? Europe bets once again on RISC-V for supercomputing sovereignty

Mar 07, 2025 - theregister.com
A group of 38 tech entities has launched the Digital Autonomy with RISC-V in Europe (DARE) project to develop processor units for supercomputers and high-performance machines in Europe. Supported by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking and coordinated by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, DARE aims to create three RISC-V chiplets over three years: a vector-math accelerator led by Openchip, an inference chiplet by Axelera AI, and a general-purpose processor by Codasip. The project, backed by €240 million in funding, seeks to enhance Europe's digital sovereignty by producing European-designed processor chips.

Axelera AI, with €61.6 million in funding, is advancing its Titania chiplet for server-grade workloads, building on its current AI ASICs design. Codasip plans to expand its RISC-V CPU cores for high-performance applications, while little is known about Openchip's vector accelerator. The initiative reflects a broader global interest in RISC-V as a foundation for technological independence, with countries like India and China also pursuing RISC-V-based designs. Despite its open nature, there have been calls in the US to restrict China's access to RISC-V technology.

Key takeaways:

  • A group of 38 tech players in Europe has launched the Digital Autonomy with RISC-V in Europe (DARE) project to develop processor units for supercomputers and high-performance machines.
  • The DARE project is supported by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking and coordinated by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, with a goal to create three RISC-V chiplets in three years.
  • Axelera AI, part of the DARE project, is developing a datacenter-class RISC-V chip called Titania, designed for server-grade workloads, and has received significant funding from EuroHPC.
  • RISC-V is gaining global traction as a royalty-free ISA, with countries like India and China pursuing domestic chip designs based on it, while the US considers restricting China's access to the technology.
View Full Article

Comments (0)

Be the first to comment!