Andrew Waterman (SiFive)

Overview

Andrew Waterman is an American computer scientist and a co-founder of SiFive, a leading semiconductor company known for its work with RISC-V, an open-source instruction set architecture (ISA). Waterman, along with his colleagues Krste Asanović and Yunsup Lee, established SiFive in 2015 to commercialize the RISC-V ISA, which was developed at the University of California, Berkeley. RISC-V is praised for its open standard, which allows for flexibility and innovation in creating custom processors.

Recent Developments

In recent years, SiFive and Andrew Waterman have continued to advance the capabilities and reach of the RISC-V ISA. Significant developments include:

April 9, 2026: SiFive raised $400 million in an oversubscribed Series G funding round led by Atreides Management and backed by NVIDIA, Apollo Global Management, and other notable investors, valuing the company at $3.65 billion. This funding is set to accelerate the development of RISC-V CPU designs aimed at data centers and AI infrastructure markets [^9^][^13^].
2025: SiFive continues to expand its influence across various high-growth sectors such as automotive, AI, and edge computing, underpinned by their scalable IP solutions that range from ultra-low-power embedded cores to high-performance vector processors [^7^].
2024: The adoption of RISC-V architecture by major tech companies, including implementation in automotive and IoT devices, has solidified RISC-V's status as a formidable competitor to traditional ISAs like ARM and x86 [^1^].
2023: Waterman co-authored "The RISC-V Reader: An Open Architecture Atlas," which is a pivotal resource in understanding and adopting the RISC-V standards [^11^].

Personal Information

Attribute	Information
Full Name	Andrew Waterman
Born	[Not publicly available]
Nationality	American
Occupation	Chief Engineer, SiFive
Known For	Co-founding SiFive, RISC-V development
Net Worth	[Not publicly available]
Education	Ph.D. in Computer Science, UC Berkeley

Early Life and Education

Andrew Waterman’s early life details are not extensively documented. However, it is known that he pursued higher education at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was part of the team that developed RISC-V, the open-source instruction set architecture that's reshaping the semiconductor industry. Waterman completed a Master’s and a Ph.D. in Computer Science at Berkeley. His academic focus helped drive innovations in computer architecture, significantly influencing his future career path and contributions to the field of computing.

Career and Notable Achievements

Waterman began his career as a software engineer before co-founding SiFive. His professional journey is marked by several key milestones and achievements:

2010: Initiated the development of RISC-V at UC Berkeley as part of a research project.
2015: Co-founded SiFive with colleagues Krste Asanović and Yunsup Lee to commercialize RISC-V.
2016: SiFive released the Freedom Everywhere 310 SoC and the HiFive development board, marking the first commercial implementation of the RISC-V ISA [^4^].
2021: Collaborated with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center and Codeplay Software to enhance RISC-V’s LLVM infrastructure, improving its vector computation capabilities [^4^].
2026: Vice Chair of Privileged Architecture Task Group at RISC-V Foundation, playing a crucial role in guiding RISC-V standards [^6^].

Current Work and Impact

Currently, Andrew Waterman serves as the Chief Engineer at SiFive, where he continues to drive innovation in the field of semiconductor technology through the development of RISC-V. His work focuses on customizing and optimizing processor designs for various high-impact markets, including AI, automotive, and data centers. Waterman’s contributions to the open-source hardware movement have positioned RISC-V as a viable competitor to established architectures, fostering wider collaboration and innovation across the industry.

Conclusion

Andrew Waterman's pioneering work with RISC-V and SiFive has significantly impacted the global semiconductor industry by introducing a flexible, open-source alternative to proprietary ISAs. His efforts have not only advanced the technical capabilities of microprocessors but have also democratized access to high-performance computing resources. As technology continues to evolve, Waterman's contributions suggest a bright future for open-source hardware and its applications across diverse sectors.