Zeng Yi, founder of Shenzhen-based processor IP firm Sunzhan, speaks softly with a Teochew lilt, but on AI and RISC-V his excitement is uncontainable. His thesis: AI has toppled the old processor order, and RISC-V is the arch it drags forward.
When the model decides the chip
‘The decision power over chip architecture has moved from chip firms to AI firms,’ Zeng says. Different models need different custom instructions that closed ARM and x86 cannot efficiently provide, so giants build on open, modifiable RISC-V. Qualcomm and Tesla have acquired RISC-V companies; Google, Meta and even Intel have deep partnerships.
AI as the great leveller
AI also platforms chip design itself. Sunzhan can spin a new CPU with partners in two months, and has pushed AI into its code-generation engine. ‘We want to be the Claude Code of the processor industry,’ Zeng says, auto-generating domain-specific, DSA processors that trade generality for task efficiency.
The NPU over CPU bet
Sunzhan deliberately avoids a frontal assault on servers and PCs, betting instead on NPUs, classic DSAs trading generality for task efficiency. Its offering is an AI solution blending CPU, VPU and many NPUs, tuned per model. RISC-V’s breakout, he argues, will not come from attacking Intel’s turf but from riding the AI wave into servers, PCs and phones via wildly varied AI chips built on open architecture.
Read the original report (LeiPhone)
Translated and adapted from LeiPhone (leiphone.com).