Alibaba enters deeper into chip battle

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has introduced a new processor aimed at strengthening its position in artificial intelligence and cloud computing, as competition intensifies in the global chip race.

The Chinese tech giant, through its research arm Damo Academy, unveiled the XuanTie C950, a central processing unit built on the open-source RISC-V architecture. The chip is designed for inference computing — a critical component of AI systems — and can be customized for specific workloads, the company said.

Alibaba’s chip development arm, T-Head, is positioning the processor as part of a broader effort to compete with established players such as Nvidia and Huawei in China’s fast-growing AI sector.

RISC-V, an open and flexible chip architecture, is emerging as a strategic alternative to designs from Arm Holdings and Intel. Its adoption has accelerated in China amid ongoing geopolitical tensions and restrictions on access to advanced semiconductor technology.

Alibaba has been an early backer of RISC-V, particularly after US-led curbs affected technology flows to Chinese firms, including limitations tied to Arm’s dealings with Huawei.

The launch underscores Beijing’s push to reduce reliance on foreign chip technologies while advancing domestic capabilities in AI and high-performance computing.