Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) has announced its next-generation XuanTie C950 5-nanometer processor, a significant step towards agentic AI. The chip was built using open-source RISC-V chip architecture and is described as “the highest performing Risc-V CPU in the world” and delivers over three times the performance of its predecessor, the XuanTee C920. Alibaba has not disclosed which foundry manufactured the chip. The company is increasing its in-house chip efforts through T-Head, focusing on the Zhenwu 810E series for AI training and inference. Industry analysis firm SHD Group predicts that by 2031, shipments of RISC'-V devices will increase to 36 billion units, with a market size exceeding $300 billion.