Zhaoxin to Design Discrete GPUs

Zhaoxin, the Chinese chip-maker famous for Kaixian line of x86 processors, and a major beneficiary of the Chinese government's ambitious "3-5-2 plan" of public investment toward the country's computer hardware independence by the mid-2020s, unveiled plans to design its first discrete GPUs that could double up as scalar-compute and AI processors. The company's baby step is a tiny 70-Watt dGPU that will be fabricated on TSMC's 28 nm silicon fabrication process that will likely serve as a tech demonstrator and development platform for ISVs. The dGPU is largely expected to derive from VIA's S3 Graphics IP as VIA has collaborated with Zhaoxin as an iGPU provider for its Kaixian line of x86 SoCs.