Editor's note: Depending on who you talk to, the momentum for RISC-V architecture in China is either taking off, or languishing. Veteran EE Times journalists Junko Yoshida and Rick Merritt set out to find out where the truth lies, and arrived at two different conclusions.

RISC-V Momentum Seen Growing in China

Vendors at a RISC-V event in Silicon Valley report that momentum is growing in China for RISC-V. Tawainese IP vendor Andes detailed six cores it currently sells and four more in the works using the open-source instruction set architecture, and Gowin Semiconductor demonstrated FPGAs using them.

Why RISC-V Lags in China

China does appear to have many “buyers” interested in RISC-V cores. But a hunt for developers trying to leverage the RISC-V instruction set in Shanghai comes up short.