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Chinese RISC-V Chipmaker SpacemiT Launches K3 AI CPU, Highlighting the Rise of Open-Source Hardware in Intelligent Computing

SpacemiT, a Chinese RISC‑V chipmaker, unveiled its K3 AI CPU on Jan. 29, positioning it as a power‑efficient, open‑source processor for edge and intelligent terminal workloads. The chip integrates eight X100 cores running up to 2.4 GHz and delivers up to 60 TOPS of AI inference while consuming only 15‑25 watts. K3 supports the RVA23 spec, 1024‑bit vector extensions and native FP8 precision, targeting medium‑scale models of 30‑80 billion parameters. Initial shipments begin in April 2026 after over 150,000 K1 units were deployed in industrial applications.