Alibaba DAMO unveils automotive-grade XuanTie E908A RISC-V processor

On October 19, the RISC-V China Summit opened in Shenzhen, where Alibaba DAMO Academy introduced the XuanTie E908A, an automotive-grade enhanced processor. The academy presented the launch as a step forward for RISC-V in safety-critical vehicle computing.

DAMO said the E908A is the first RISC-V CPU IP to meet both ASIL-B and ASIL-D standards, two automotive safety integrity levels used to classify functional safety. Its single-point fault metric (SPFM) exceeds 90%, which the academy described as an industry first. The figures are meant to demonstrate readiness for high-reliability automotive applications.

The academy also released, for the first time, product roadmaps for autonomous driving and embodied intelligence. Under the plan, the next-generation XuanTie C950A is targeted to reach five times the performance of existing RISC-V automotive products.

The roadmap signals DAMO's intent to extend RISC-V beyond general computing into intelligent vehicles and robotics, where safety certification and performance scaling are critical. The summit appearance also highlighted growing industry interest in open-source chip architectures for automotive and embodied AI systems. The announcement points to broader efforts to adapt open instruction-set technology to demanding vehicle-grade requirements.