Alibaba unveils a new CPU for servers that will alert AMD and Intel: its previous version surprised with its speed.

Alibaba has unveiled its first RISC-V server-grade processor, the C930, which is designed to deliver high performance in computing and is positioned as a competitive alternative to Intel Xeon and AMD EPYC processors. This new chip, developed by DAMO Academy, Alibaba's research arm, was announced at a conference in Beijing and joins the XuanTie RISC-V processor series, which includes the C910 launched in 2019 and the C920 released in 2023.

In response to increasing trade restrictions imposed by the U.S. on advanced technology exports, Chinese companies such as DAMO Academy, Huawei, and Tencent have intensified their efforts to develop their own chips, aiming to reduce their dependence on foreign suppliers. RISC-V has gained relevance in China due to its open-source design, allowing companies to create and customize processors without the licensing costs and geopolitical risks associated with proprietary architectures like x86 and Arm. This year, the Chinese Academy of Sciences plans to introduce its own RISC-V-based CPU, XiangShan.

During the conference in Beijing, DAMO Academy outlined its future plans for the XuanTie processor series, which include the development of new chips intended for artificial intelligence accelerators, automotive computing, and high-speed connections. A report indicates that the launch of these new chips occurred just days after Alibaba announced an aggressive investment plan of at least 380 billion yuan ($52 billion) in AI and cloud infrastructure over the next three years. The company, which is the largest cloud service provider in China, seeks to meet the growing demand for AI models, fueled by the recent popularity of high-performance, low-cost models developed by the startup DeepSeek.

The new C930 server processor is expected to start shipping to customers by the end of March 2025.