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Comment by otoburb | Hacker News Reader

Interesting that Espressif recently announced they are moving exclusively to RISC-V[1]. This will likely drive costs down even further, but unsure if they will improve on the power efficiency in the near term. The ESP32-C3 is mentioned in the esp-rs[2].

[1] https://www.eenewseurope.com/en/espressif-moves-exclusively-...

[2] https://github.com/esp-rs/esp-hal/pull/76

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Makes sense, its not bound by the xtensa license which prevents open source disclosure of the jtag interface (there are probably other reasons, but I know xtensa isn't compatible w/open source)

Espressif is based in Shanghai. China nationally is moving to RISC-V & red linux for all internal cases so they aren't reliant on foreign tech/ip. Espressif makes products for the ccp (I'd wager it is their single largest client and probably directly influencing their board, but that is speculation). Most chip manufacturers work pretty close with their govs for biz.

Its hard to appreciate today how significant a role esp32 will play in future computing trends (but it is probably HUGE imho, i love their products and transparency)

Espressif guy here. Please share proof we make stuff for the CCP specifically? Because I'm not sure I want to work for them if they influence any technical decisions.

Btw.. I don't think the ccp is evil or whatever. Espressif is a Chinese company, based in Shanghai requires a operation business license. They are under ccp jurisdiction. The relationship with the china gov is either cozy (at executive level) or they can't have banking, internet, etc.

I could make the same statement about huawei, alibaba, et al.

However I don't want to be accused of being a liar.

Who/What was the application/client for the aithink (a division of espressif) esp32-cam board

The application is/was ccp military & ccp dystopia-esque long range surveillance tech.

Its not a dev board, it was designed for a specific application.

You can find references to the models in the Chinese (mandarin) version of the docs. The cameras which include night vision & heat can be found on taobao, have esp32-cam inside.

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