T-Head Semiconductor

T-Head Semiconductor (平头哥半导体) is the semiconductor design arm of Alibaba Group, established in 2018 by merging Alibaba's existing chip design teams with the acquired Hangzhou C-SKY Microsystems. The unit is named after the honey badger — known in Chinese internet culture as the fearless 'PingTouGe' — reflecting an ambition to take on entrenched chip incumbents. T-Head designs processors and system-on-chips rather than manufacturing them, working with foundry partners. Its portfolio spans the XuanTie (玄铁) RISC-V processor cores, the Pingtouge/Yitian (倚天) Arm-based server CPU for Alibaba Cloud, the Hanguang (含光) AI inference accelerator, and a range of embedded and IoT chips. The brand sits inside Alibaba's DAMO Academy research ecosystem and supports both Alibaba's own cloud infrastructure and external customers through IP licensing and chip sales. T-Head is a strategic bet on reducing dependence on foreign silicon and on building a domestic RISC-V ecosystem, and it has become one of China's most visible in-house chip design brands.

T-Head Semiconductor was formed in 2018 when Alibaba Group consolidated its chip design efforts, combining its internal semiconductor team with Hangzhou C-SKY Microsystems, a domestic embedded CPU IP company Alibaba acquired. The new unit was placed under Alibaba's DAMO Academy and given the PingTouGe (honey badger) name. In 2019 T-Head released the XuanTie 910, a high-performance RISC-V processor core, and the Hanguang 800, an AI inference chip used in Alibaba Cloud. In 2021 the company introduced the Yitian 710, an Arm-based server CPU built on advanced process technology and deployed in Alibaba Cloud data centers. T-Head has continued to expand its XuanTie RISC-V core family and to license IP to external chipmakers, positioning itself as a cornerstone of China's domestic semiconductor ecosystem.

• 2021

  Yitian 710 Arm-based server CPU introduced for Alibaba Cloud.

• 2019

  XuanTie 910 RISC-V core and Hanguang 800 AI inference chip released.

• 2018

  T-Head Semiconductor established within Alibaba Group, merging internal chip team with C-SKY Microsystems.

Alibaba's in-house chip design brand focused on cloud infrastructure silicon and the open RISC-V ecosystem.

• XuanTie 910

• Hanguang 800

• Yitian 710

• 2021-10-19

  T-Head launches Yitian 710 chip[1]平头哥发布倚天710芯片dw.com

  Reported: 2021-10-19

  Alibaba subsidiary T-Head Semiconductor launched the Yitian 710 chip at the 2021 Apsara Conference. Alibaba said it did not plan to sell the chip and would deploy it for its own use in Alibaba data centers.

• Unconfirmed

  T-Head launches Hanguang 800 AI chip[2]平头哥发布含光800 AI芯片stock.jrj.com.cn

  T-Head Semiconductor announced Hanguang 800, described as an AI inference chip, at the Alibaba Cloud conference. The article identifies it as the first self-developed chip released since T-Head was established.

1. 1平头哥发布倚天710芯片dw.com
2. 2平头哥发布含光800 AI芯片stock.jrj.com.cn