Rivos: 10 Key Things You Must Know

Overview

Rivos is an innovative semiconductor startup based in Santa Clara, California, focusing on creating advanced server chips optimized for data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) workloads. Founded in 2021, the company aims to challenge industry giants like Nvidia by developing power-efficient, high-performance, and secure solutions using the open-source RISC-V instruction set architecture. With significant funding from major investors, including Intel's CEO Lip-Bu Tan, Rivos represents a key player in the evolving AI chip market. As you explore this article, you’ll discover how Rivos blends hardware and software innovation to address the computing needs of large language models and data-intensive applications.

1. Origins and Founding Vision

Rivos was founded in May 2021 by Puneet Kumar and Belli Kuttanna, who brought together a world-class team of silicon, software, and platform designers. Motivated by the limitations of existing chip architectures, they envisioned leveraging RISC-V technology, an open-source alternative to proprietary instruction sets, to build customizable and efficient chips. The company’s name itself, “Rivos,” is derived from RISC-V and the concept of open source, symbolizing its commitment to transparency and flexibility in design. Headquartered in Santa Clara, the startup quickly attracted top talent and strategic investors aligned with this pioneering vision.

2. RISC-V Architecture and Innovation

At the heart of Rivos’ technology is the RISC-V architecture, which offers a flexible, modular, and royalty-free instruction set for CPUs. Unlike traditional proprietary architectures, RISC-V allows for customizable extensions tailored to specific workloads, which is particularly beneficial for AI and data analytics applications. Rivos combines high-performance RISC-V CPU cores with an integrated Data Parallel Accelerator—a specialized GPU optimized for large language models (LLMs) and analytics workloads—enabling seamless data movement and high computational efficiency. This approach aims to reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) while delivering cutting-edge performance.

3. Product Development: First RISC-V Server Chip

Rivos is in the advanced stages of developing its first silicon product—a server chip that combines power-optimized RISC-V CPUs and a data parallel accelerator. This chip targets AI inference and data analytics tasks, designed to compete with Nvidia’s dominant graphics processing units (GPUs) but with greater energy efficiency and security. Rivos is manufacturing these chips utilizing Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC)'s advanced three-nanometer process, one of the most cutting-edge fabrication technologies available. The company’s design emphasizes ease of deployment, allowing customers to run existing AI workloads without major redevelopment.

4. Funding and Strategic Backing

Since its inception, Rivos has successfully raised over $870 million in venture funding, including a $250 million Series A-3 round in 2024 and ongoing efforts to secure an additional $400-$500 million to accelerate GPU development. The startup is backed by a consortium of prominent investors such as Intel Capital, MediaTek, Dell Technologies Capital, Walden Catalyst, and Matrix Capital Management. Notably, Intel’s CEO Lip-Bu Tan serves as a founding chairman and significant supporter, underscoring the confidence in Rivos' potential to reshape AI and data center chip markets.

5. Competitive Landscape and Market Position

Rivos operates in a highly competitive environment with major players like Nvidia, MediaTek, Unisoc, and Morphing Machines. However, its emphasis on RISC-V and software-defined hardware distinguishes it from competitors relying on traditional architectures. Rivos targets the expansive and fast-growing AI inference market segment, which is projected to account for 60-70% of AI workloads by 2030. By focusing on workload-specific hardware acceleration and energy efficiency, the company aims to capture a significant share of the enterprise server market.

6. Software-Defined Hardware Approach

A key differentiator for Rivos is its recompile-not-redesign philosophy, wherein the hardware is optimized to work with existing software models through recompilation rather than complete redesign. This reduces deployment complexity and accelerates time-to-market for clients. The company provides a comprehensive firmware-to-application open software stack, enabling developers to utilize their silicon with minimal friction. This ecosystem approach mitigates one of the main challenges for RISC-V adoption: the historically limited software ecosystem, especially compared to proprietary architectures like Arm or Nvidia CUDA.

7. Overcoming Legal Challenges

In 2022, Apple accused Rivos of poaching employees and misappropriating trade secrets related to handset processors, leading to lawsuits from both sides. The dispute was settled by early 2024, allowing Rivos to focus on expanding its operations without legal distractions. Despite this turbulent period, Rivos continued securing funding and pressing forward with chip development, signaling resilience and a strong commitment to its roadmap.

8. Industry Recognition and Growth Prospects

Rivos is widely recognized as one of the hottest semiconductor startups in the AI and high-performance computing space. Its innovative use of RISC-V, combined with strategic support from leading investors and partners, has positioned it as a prominent contender to challenge Nvidia’s dominance. The company’s roadmap includes mass production of its GPU-equipped chips by 2026, targeting AI inference workloads and data analytics tasks that require high performance with efficiency and security.

9. Global Footprint and Workforce

Though headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Rivos maintains offices across the USA, United Kingdom, European Union, and Asia, reflecting its global ambitions and reach. The company is actively hiring across multiple engineering disciplines to scale its R&D and manufacturing operations. With a strong team composed of veterans from Google, Apple, Intel, and other tech giants, Rivos leverages diverse expertise to innovate rapidly and respond to evolving market demands.

10. Future Outlook and Industry Impact

The future holds significant promise for Rivos as it pursues its vision of redefining server solutions with energy-efficient, high-performance RISC-V chips. By creating an integrated platform combining CPUs and accelerators tailored for AI and data analytics, Rivos aims to lower barriers for enterprises adopting AI workloads while fostering an open, software-driven ecosystem. If successful, it could democratize access to powerful AI infrastructure and catalyze broader adoption of RISC-V architecture in data centers and beyond.

Conclusion

Rivos exemplifies the dynamic and rapidly evolving semiconductor industry, where new players harness open-source architectures to challenge well-entrenched incumbents. Founded on innovation, strategic partnerships, and a clear vision to address the burgeoning AI and data analytics market, Rivos is carving a unique path with its power-efficient and secure RISC-V based server chips. As it approaches commercial product launches and expands its ecosystem, Rivos’ journey offers valuable insight into the future of AI hardware. Will Rivos disrupt the market and shift the balance in AI chip computing? Its ongoing developments and funded ambitions certainly make it one to watch closely.