New York: Open standard computer chips are quietly positioning themselves as a serious contender in the global artificial intelligence race, challenging the dominance of proprietary technologies that currently power most advanced AI systems. Industry analysts say this shift could become more visible by 2026 as companies look for cheaper, more flexible and geopolitically neutral alternatives to today’s leading chips.
A recent analysis points to the growing interest in chips built on open architectures such as RISC V. Unlike traditional designs controlled by a handful of companies, open standard chips are based on freely available specifications. This allows manufacturers to design processors without paying high licensing fees and to customise them for specific AI tasks such as data analysis, image recognition or language processing.
At present, most large AI models rely heavily on chips supplied by market leaders like Nvidia, whose graphics processing units dominate data centres worldwide. However, this dominance has also created concerns about high costs, supply constraints and over dependence on a single technology provider. These concerns have intensified as global demand for AI computing power continues to surge.
Major technology companies and cloud service providers are already exploring alternatives. Some are investing heavily in their own custom chips to reduce reliance on external suppliers. Others are experimenting with open standard designs that can be tailored to their specific needs. Analysts note that this trend reflects a broader push to diversify the AI hardware ecosystem.
Geopolitics is also playing a role in the growing appeal of open standard chips. As technology tensions between major economies persist, companies in both Western and Asian markets are keen to adopt chip designs that are less vulnerable to export controls and licensing restrictions. Open architectures are seen as more neutral and adaptable in this fragmented global environment.
Despite this growing interest, experts caution that open standard chips still face significant challenges. Software support and developer tools remain less mature compared to established proprietary platforms. Performance gaps also exist for the most demanding AI workloads, although researchers believe these differences will narrow over the next few years as investment increases.
Industry forecasts suggest that the broader AI chip market could be worth hundreds of billions of dollars by the end of the decade. While proprietary chips are expected to retain a strong position in the near term, open standard designs are increasingly viewed as a dark horse that could reshape the market, particularly for specialised and cost sensitive applications.
As companies prepare for the next wave of AI growth, the competition between closed and open chip ecosystems is set to intensify. The outcome may determine not only who leads the AI hardware market, but also how accessible and affordable advanced artificial intelligence becomes in the years ahead.