NEORV32: A tiny, embedded and free-of-charge open-source RISC-V SoC

Generally OSHW would be about things like PCB design, HDL and firmware.

NEORV32 is specifically HDL, and free-of-charge likely refers to getting a free license (BSD 3-clause) to it.

Currently it's most popular as small processors within SoCs, used for management tasks, e.g. Root of Trust, BIOS style things, etc.

It's really about who invests money. Say if you're a large country that wants an independent supply of CPUs that can't be sanctioned, ARM/x86 isn't going to be where you invest

I would say the current state of RISC-V is complete but still lacks the final kick. Yes, you can now build an application core out of it, given that V, B, K extensions are now ratified under RVA22. However most high-performance u-archs are not built for client applications -- they are usually built for server/professional market and then derive down to the client side. (Edit: or if not in the Apple and ARM case, curated computing also needs something beyond regular client applications)

For server/professional market, RISC-V still lacks a selling point. Perhaps something like a pointer masking, memory tagging, or transactional memory in the J and T extensions which are still in very early stages.