Bolt Graphics' Zeus GPU: A RISC-V Challenger to Nvidia

Bolt Graphics, a California startup, unveiled its Zeus GPU platform based on the open-source RISC-V architecture. In path tracing workloads, Zeus significantly outperforms Nvidia's RTX 5090, boasting up to 10x the speed. However, its performance in traditional rendering and AI tasks remains unclear, and a mature software ecosystem is lacking. Zeus uses a multi-chiplet design, offering various configurations with up to 2TB of memory and built-in high-speed networking, targeting high-performance computing and scientific simulations. Developer kits are slated for late 2025, with mass production in late 2026. Despite significant challenges, Zeus's emergence injects new dynamism into the GPU market.