Alibaba

Ālǐbābā

阿里巴巴

to release / to launch

fābù

发布

XuanTie (chip series name)

Xuántiě

玄铁

C950 (model number)

C950

C950

chip / processor

xīnpiàn

芯片

，

specifically designed for

zhuān wèi

专为

AI (artificial intelligence)

AI

AI

AI agent

zhìnéngtǐ

智能体

designed / built

shèjì

设计

。

New Words

News in English

Alibaba Launches XuanTie C950 Chip Built for AI Agents

Alibaba DAMO Academy unveiled the XuanTie C950, a 5nm RISC-V processor built for AI agents, on March 24, 2026. The chip delivers more than three times the performance of its predecessor and marks RISC-V entry into high-end AI computing.

Alibaba Group's DAMO Academy released a new processor called "XuanTie C950" on March 24, specifically designed for AI agent tasks.

The XuanTie C950 is built on the open-source RISC-V architecture and employs 5-nanometer manufacturing process technology, with a clock frequency reaching 3.2 GHz.

Compared to the previous generation XuanTie C920 chip, this processor shows a performance improvement exceeding threefold.

Alibaba indicates that this chip will be deployed in data centers, primarily undertaking inference tasks for large-scale AI models.

The XuanTie C950 natively supports hundred-billion-parameter scale models, including Qwen3 and DeepSeek V3.

Industry analysts point out that the RISC-V architecture requires no licensing fees, which helps reduce costs and enhances supply chain resilience.

According to reports, the chip is produced through contract manufacturing by TSMC, though Alibaba has not officially disclosed the manufacturing partner's name.

This release marks the formal entry of RISC-V architecture into the high-end AI computing field.

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