Khronos royalty-free open standards for 3D graphics, Virtual and Augmented Reality, Parallel Computing, Machine Learning, and Vision Processing

MESA In development the past year has been the Mesa Gallium3D API implemented atop NVIDIA's CUDA driver API. Initially named "CLUDA" and now going by "NOCL", this Mesa code paired with Rusticl is working well for OpenCL atop the NVIDIA proprietary driver as a new compute option.

KosmicKrisp, LunarG’s Mesa Vulkan driver for Apple silicon, has passed the Vulkan 1.4 Conformance Test Suite (CTS) and is now a Khronos-conformant Vulkan 1.4 implementation. The Vulkan 1.4-conformant version of KosmicKrisp is available for download via the Vulkan SDK.

KosmicKrisp was already a Khronos-conformant Vulkan 1.3 product. Vulkan 1.4 conformance is the next step in advancing support for Vulkan on macOS. In addition to reaching 1.4 conformance, substantial support for non-core extensions and features has been added, including Tesselation, Robustness2, and Multi-draw. KosmicKrisp is implemented as a Mesa driver, shipped in the LunarG Vulkan SDK, and exercised in LunarG’s CI. Performance of KosmicKrisp has tripled since it achieved Vulkan 1.3 conformance, and optimization work continues to be a high priority.

The OpenCL Working Group has published the OpenCL 3.1.2 specifications, finalizing the cl_khr_command_buffer extension alongside bug fixes and clarifications. Command buffers let applications record a sequence of commands once and replay it repeatedly, reducing CPU overhead and giving drivers opportunities to optimize across the entire sequence. This benefits workloads with repeated execution patterns, including AI inference. The specifications are available in the OpenCL Registry.

Leadwerks Game Engine 5.2 has been released, delivering a massive upgrade to its virtual reality capabilities with a new backend built on the OpenXR standard. By leveraging Khronos Group’s royalty-free, open standard, Leadwerks ensures native compatibility with virtually all VR hardware on the market today, including Valve’s new Steam Frame headset.

Many new enhancements for VR have been added including hand and finger animation, high-fidelity physics powered by Newton Dynamics, low-latency hand attachments, and built-in VR locomotion options.

With universal OpenXR integration and its high-fidelity physics system, Leadwerks 5.2 is uniquely positioned as a versatile platform for both indie VR game developers and professional simulation creators, spanning industries from entertainment to aerospace and defense.

The Khronos Group announced the establishment of Khronos AISBL, an international non-profit association headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Khronos AISBL operates under the governance of The Khronos Group Inc.; membership, IP framework, and specification processes are unchanged. This new entity enables European organizations to include Khronos as a formal project partner in major EU-funded research and innovation programs.

The Khronos Group has issued an RFP for the OpenCL SDK maintenance. The OpenCL SDK is the Khronos-maintained open source collection of OpenCL samples, utility libraries, language bindings, continuous integration (CI) infrastructure, and the OpenCL Guide. It is hosted on GitHub and maintained by the OpenCL Working Group. The goal of this project is to address identified bugs and issues in the SDK and to improve its functionality and usability.