Politicians ask Biden to refuse to participate in the development of popular software. But why?
Politicians in Washington are putting pressure on President Biden to ban American companies and specialists from cooperating with China in the field of open source software RISC-V. However, if the US stops helping develop RISC-V, the risks will fall on the American side.
The US withdrawal from the project will damage American high-tech companies, undermine the country's credibility in the world, and ultimately allow China to move closer to technological and geopolitical parity with the United States.
RISC-V is free, open source software that competes with solutions from giants such as Arm and Intel. More than 10 billion RISC-V chips used in smartphones and home appliances have been sold since 2010.
RISC-V is managed by the non-profit organization RISC-V International, which includes more than 4,000 companies, including Google, Huawei and Tencent. They work together to define technical standards and characteristics for the architecture.
China has already invested significant resources in developing the RISC-V ecosystem, which plays into its hands. In China, more than 300 companies develop products based on this technology, and China accounts for more than half of the world's supply of chips. In terms of the number of startups and specialists involved in this field, China is second only to the United States and can easily overtake them in the next 10 years.
If China gains control of RISC-V, Chinese firms will be able to lead the global market in the future, even in such industries as consumer electronics, automotive and aerospace.
So far, Washington has not presented a convincing argument that RISC-V actually poses an immediate threat to US national security. RISC-V is developed primarily by consumer companies.
Even if there are legitimate concerns about the security of RISC-V, large corporations will make every effort to eliminate the possibility of espionage and unauthorized access to someone's systems.
In addition, Intel, Google and Siemens will strongly oppose the US withdrawal from RISC-V, as they have invested heavily in the development of this promising technology, which by 2030 could occupy 25% of the global microprocessor market.
As a result, if the US does impose sanctions, it will not only not help contain China and strengthen national security, but, on the contrary, it will only weaken the country's position and strengthen China as the main strategic rival.
Politicians in Washington are putting pressure on President Biden to ban American companies and specialists from cooperating with China in the field of open source software RISC-V. However, if the US stops helping develop RISC-V, the risks will fall on the American side.
The US withdrawal from the project will damage American high-tech companies, undermine the country's credibility in the world, and ultimately allow China to move closer to technological and geopolitical parity with the United States.
RISC-V is free, open source software that competes with solutions from giants such as Arm and Intel. More than 10 billion RISC-V chips used in smartphones and home appliances have been sold since 2010.
RISC-V is managed by the non-profit organization RISC-V International, which includes more than 4,000 companies, including Google, Huawei and Tencent. They work together to define technical standards and characteristics for the architecture.
China has already invested significant resources in developing the RISC-V ecosystem, which plays into its hands. In China, more than 300 companies develop products based on this technology, and China accounts for more than half of the world's supply of chips. In terms of the number of startups and specialists involved in this field, China is second only to the United States and can easily overtake them in the next 10 years.
If China gains control of RISC-V, Chinese firms will be able to lead the global market in the future, even in such industries as consumer electronics, automotive and aerospace.
So far, Washington has not presented a convincing argument that RISC-V actually poses an immediate threat to US national security. RISC-V is developed primarily by consumer companies.
Even if there are legitimate concerns about the security of RISC-V, large corporations will make every effort to eliminate the possibility of espionage and unauthorized access to someone's systems.
In addition, Intel, Google and Siemens will strongly oppose the US withdrawal from RISC-V, as they have invested heavily in the development of this promising technology, which by 2030 could occupy 25% of the global microprocessor market.
As a result, if the US does impose sanctions, it will not only not help contain China and strengthen national security, but, on the contrary, it will only weaken the country's position and strengthen China as the main strategic rival.
