Bolt Graphics showcases Zeus path-tracing GPUs at Ubuntu Summit

At the Ubuntu Summit 25.10, Bolt Graphics stepped into the spotlight with a software-first preview of its Zeus graphics line, a project the startup says is built for real-time path tracing in professional film and animation workflows. With a 2026 hardware debut on the horizon, the company set expectations high by explaining how its RISC-V GPU strategy and supporting tools are meant to deliver performance it claims is 13 times faster than Nvidia’s RTX 5090.

Antonio Salvemini, the company’s director of graphics engineering, used a session titled Beyond the Silicon: Redefining GPU Innovation Through Software and Methodology to frame the idea that the real breakthrough lies in the pipeline rather than the die. He underlined why path tracing is central to Zeus, contrasting it with ray tracing by noting that each light wave only bounces one way in the latter, and then outlining how reversing the beam from the digital camera back to the light source improves realism while minimizing overhead for a RISC-V GPU workflow.

Salvemini singled out Intel’s Open Image Denoise for cleaning up noisy frames and the MaterialX open standard for shaders and textures as the foundation of Zeus’s rendering stack, describing how those building blocks enable real-time results that Bolt says outpace an RTX 5090 by a factor of 13 in its internal tests. By leaning on open components and an open software stack, the company is presenting a RISC-V GPU package where software orchestration, not just silicon, is the engine of speed.

Hardware details point to a multi-chiplet design based on the RVA23 profile, placing Zeus among the first consumer chips to target that new specification and pushing the open RISC-V instruction set beyond its microcontroller roots. For developers and studios, the implication is a RISC-V GPU platform that treats chip architecture and rendering methodology as a single system rather than separate stages.

The venue also clarifies intent. Ubuntu Summits have previously hosted the Motion Picture Academy and Dreamworks to discuss production software, and Bolt’s own outreach has highlighted studios such as Disney and Lucasfilm as potential beneficiaries. The company’s website FAQ contains no mention of AI, signaling a deliberate move away from what it views as saturated AI and gaming categories in favor of a RISC-V GPU built expressly for high-end VFX.

Competitive signaling was unmistakable. Bolt has been stoking interest since it first announced its RISC-V graphics effort in March, and Tom’s Hardware reported that the hype has grown as the 2026 launch nears. If real-time path tracing holds up beyond internal benchmarks, VFX teams could iterate shots faster and trim render budgets, which would put pressure on incumbents even if the 13-times figure against RTX 5090 remains a benchmark from within a RISC-V GPU developer’s own testing.

The broader market context is unavoidable as compute vendors chase AI training and gaming refresh cycles, while Bolt positions itself as a specialist in cinematic rendering. That stance may resonate with investors looking for focused bets in a crowded field, since staying out of AI narratives can carve out clearer product-market fit around a RISC-V GPU aimed at film and animation workflows.

Success would have outsized consequences for both graphics workflows and the RISC-V ecosystem, because a real-time path-tracing toolchain adopted by major studios could accelerate production timelines and elevate an open ISA in the process. With the Zeus roadmap pointing to 2026, the next two years will test whether software-centric engineering can turn a RISC-V GPU into a new category for visual effects, a shift that hints at how enterprise content creation may gravitate toward specialized, standards-driven platforms.