OpenPOWER Foundation
An industry collaboration that develops and promotes open technologies based on IBM's Power instruction-set architecture.
Last updated October 14, 2026
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Overview
The OpenPOWER Foundation is an industry and research collaboration focused on expanding access to technologies based on the Power instruction-set architecture. IBM initiated the effort and announced it as the OpenPOWER Consortium on August 6, 2013, at a time when the company was seeking to broaden the ecosystem around its POWER server processors. The initiative was designed to let partners work with processor specifications, system designs, firmware, software, and related intellectual property under more open licensing and collaborative-development arrangements than were customary for proprietary server platforms. Its central objective is to enable companies and research organizations to design customized servers, networking equipment, storage systems, accelerators, and other data-center products around Power technology. Under the model described by IBM, compliant implementations could use relevant patents without royalty payments, and processor designs based on IBM intellectual property could be manufactured by foundries selected by the integrator. Partners could also combine Power processors with their own hardware, graphics processors, field-programmable gate arrays, application-specific integrated circuits, memory systems, and interconnect technologies. The foundation's work spans hardware architecture, technical documentation, firmware, operating-system support, hypervisor integration, and open-source processor implementations. Important architectural materials include the Power ISA and Power Architecture Platform Reference documentation. The initiative also supported the development of systems using POWER8 and later generations of the architecture. Nvidia contributed NVLink-related technology for coupling graphics processors with Power systems, while other members explored servers, accelerators, FPGA products, storage, and networking applications. Software has been an important part of the ecosystem. OpenPOWER-related work has included Linux support, little-endian Linux environments, KVM virtualization, and firmware capable of booting Linux. SUSE added POWER8 support to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12, Canonical supported the architecture in Ubuntu Server beginning with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, and FreeBSD developed preliminary support. In 2022, Collabora announced support for the ppc64le architecture in its enterprise edition of LibreOffice, distributed through packages, containers, and Nextcloud Enterprise deployments. The project increasingly incorporated openly published processor cores. IBM released Microwatt in 2019 as a small open-source Power ISA 3.0 implementation and reference design, followed by other projects including Chiselwatt. IBM released the higher-performance A2I core in 2020 and the A2O core later that year. The Libre-SOC project was presented at the 2020 OpenPOWER Summit as an independent open implementation targeting the Power ISA and FPGA platforms, although its project lead later described the effort as effectively terminated in a June 2024 message. Membership expanded rapidly. Founding participants included IBM, Google, Tyan, Nvidia, and Mellanox. Additional participants included semiconductor, server, storage, software, academic, government, and laboratory organizations such as Altera, Samsung, Canonical, Hitachi, Inspur, Rackspace, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, Tsinghua University, and others. The organization reported 113 members at its first annual summit in 2015, more than 250 members in late 2016, and more than 350 members in 2020. On August 20, 2019, IBM announced that the OpenPOWER Foundation would become part of the Linux Foundation. This placed the collaboration within a larger neutral-host framework for open-source and open-technology projects. The foundation is therefore best understood not as a conventional consumer brand or processor manufacturer, but as an ecosystem organization that coordinates technical standards, licensing, collaboration,…
History
The OpenPOWER Foundation emerged from IBM's 2013 effort to broaden participation in the Power processor ecosystem. IBM announced the OpenPOWER Consortium on August 6, 2013, with the aim of making parts of its processor technology, hardware documentation, firmware, and software more accessible to partners. The initiative was intended to challenge the closed nature of conventional server platforms by allowing members to customize systems and combine Power processors with their own accelerators, memory subsystems, interconnects, and system designs. The collaboration's openness had several dimensions. IBM made selected processor technology available for licensing, described a royalty-free patent approach for compliant implementations, and supported manufacturing through foundries chosen by licensees. It also promoted shared development among participating companies and relied heavily on open-source software, particularly Linux. The intended market was primarily infrastructure rather than consumer electronics: enterprise servers, cloud platforms, high-performance computing, networking, storage, and specialized data-center systems. Early membership included IBM, Google, Tyan, Nvidia, and Mellanox. Nvidia's participation was associated with integrating GPU technology through its NVLink interconnect, while Mellanox contributed high-performance networking expertise. Altera supported the initiative with FPGA products and OpenCL software. During 2014, the membership expanded to include organizations such as Samsung, Canonical, Hitachi, Inspur, Rackspace, research institutions, laboratories, and additional semiconductor and systems companies. The foundation reported approximately 80 members by the end of 2014, 113 at its first annual summit in 2015, more than 250 by late 2016, and over 350 in 2020. Power ISA documentation became a central public resource. The foundation and its community worked around the instruction-set specification and platform documentation, while partners developed hardware and software for POWER8 and subsequent systems. Firmware, KVM virtualization, and little-endian Linux were among the software priorities. SUSE added POWER8 support to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 in 2014, Canonical supported the architecture in Ubuntu Server 16.04 LTS and later releases, and FreeBSD developed preliminary support. The open-hardware dimension became more visible from 2019 onward. IBM released Microwatt, a compact open-source Power ISA 3.0 core, as a reference design. Chiselwatt provided another open implementation, and IBM released the A2I and A2O cores in 2020. At the OpenPOWER Summit North America in 2020, Libre-SOC was presented as an independent implementation intended for FPGA-based systems. The project was later described by its lead as effectively terminated in a June 2024 list-serv message. A major organizational transition occurred in August 2019, when IBM announced that the OpenPOWER Foundation would become part of the Linux Foundation. The move connected OpenPOWER with a larger ecosystem for open-source governance and collaborative technology projects. The foundation's continuing role is to support the Power architecture community through specifications, licensing frameworks, technical collaboration, open-source implementations, and ecosystem enablement. It does not primarily sell a branded end-user product; its value lies in coordinating a community that can build and deploy Power-based computing technologies.
- 2022
Collabora Online adds ppc64le support
[1]Collabora announced enterprise support for the ppc64le architecture in Collabora Online.
- 2020
A2I and A2O cores released
[1]IBM released the A2I and A2O processor cores under open-source licensing during 2020.
- 2020
Libre-SOC introduced at OpenPOWER Summit
[1]Libre-SOC was presented as an independent open Power ISA implementation for FPGA-oriented experimentation and development.
- 2019
OpenPOWER joins the Linux Foundation
[1]IBM announced that the foundation would become part of the Linux Foundation.
- 2019
Microwatt published as open source
[1]IBM released the Microwatt Power ISA 3.0 processor core as an open-source reference implementation.
- 2016
Membership exceeds 250
[1]The foundation reported more than 250 members by late 2016.
- 2015
Membership reaches 113 organizations
[1]At the first annual OpenPOWER Summit, the organization reported 113 members.
- 2014
Early ecosystem and software expansion
[1]Membership broadened across semiconductor, server, software, academic, and laboratory organizations, while SUSE introduced POWER8 support in SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12.
- 2013
OpenPOWER Consortium announced
[1]IBM announced the OpenPOWER Consortium as a collaborative effort to open portions of Power technology and enable partner-designed infrastructure systems.
Products and positioning
An open-technology ecosystem and standards collaboration for customizable Power-based computing, particularly in servers, cloud infrastructure, high-performance computing, and accelerator-rich data centers.
Processor instruction-set architecture · 2013
Power ISA
The Power ISA is the central technical foundation of the OpenPOWER ecosystem. It defines the instruction set used by compatible processors and provides the architectural basis for IBM and independent implementations. OpenPOWER promotes access to documentation and encourages members to create customized processors, accelerators, and complete systems around the architecture.
Architecture documentation · 2013
OpenPOWER technical documentation
OpenPOWER publishes and supports technical materials covering the Power architecture and platform design. These resources include the Power ISA and Power Architecture Platform Reference documentation, which help implementers understand processor behavior, system integration, and compatible hardware design.
Open-source processor core · 2019
Microwatt
Microwatt is a small open-source processor core implementing Power ISA version 3.0. IBM released it in 2019 as a reference design for OpenPOWER development. Its compact design makes it useful for experimentation, education, FPGA deployment, and exploration of open processor implementations.
Open-source processor core · 2020
A2I
A2I is an IBM open-source processor core released in 2020. It extended the range of openly available Power implementations beyond the small Microwatt reference design and was positioned as a higher-performance option for research and system development.
Open-source processor core · 2020
A2O
A2O is an IBM open-source processor core released in September 2020. Together with A2I, it provided developers with additional openly published implementations for studying, adapting, and integrating Power-based processing technology.
Platform enablement · 2013
OpenPOWER software ecosystem
The OpenPOWER software ecosystem includes firmware, Linux support, KVM virtualization, and tools for little-endian Power environments. Support from distributions and applications such as SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, Ubuntu Server, FreeBSD, and Collabora Online has helped make ppc64le systems usable across enterprise and development workloads.
Brand decisions
2019
Move the foundation into the Linux FoundationStrategyBackground
OpenPOWER had grown into a broad multi-company and research collaboration, creating a need for a larger neutral framework for governance and open-source coordination.
Action taken
IBM announced that the OpenPOWER Foundation would become part of the Linux Foundation.
Aftermath
The move connected OpenPOWER with the Linux Foundation's wider open-source and open-technology community.
2019
Publish Microwatt as an open-source reference implementationProduct launchBackground
The ecosystem needed accessible hardware implementations that developers could study, adapt, and deploy without relying exclusively on proprietary processor designs.
Action taken
IBM released Microwatt, a small Power ISA 3.0 core, as open source.
Aftermath
Microwatt became a visible reference point for open Power hardware development and was followed by additional cores and independent projects.
2013
Adopt an open partner-development model for Power technologyStrategyBackground
IBM wanted to expand the Power server ecosystem beyond systems designed and controlled solely by IBM. The initiative addressed demand for customized infrastructure and closer integration with accelerators, networking, storage, and cloud platforms.
Action taken
IBM created the OpenPOWER Consortium, opened selected specifications and technology to partners, promoted royalty-free patent access for compliant implementations, and encouraged collaborative development and third-party manufacturing.
Aftermath
The program attracted semiconductor, systems, software, academic, and government participants and developed into the OpenPOWER Foundation.
- Nvidia — Nvidia joined as a founding participant and contributed NVLink-related technology for coupling graphics processors with Power systems.
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