What Khronos Group does

The Khronos Group is a non-profit, member-funded industry consortium headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, that develops and maintains a portfolio of royalty-free open standards spanning 3D graphics, virtual and augmented reality, parallel computing, machine learning, and vision processing. Its active standards include Vulkan, OpenGL, OpenGL ES, WebGL, OpenCL, OpenXR, glTF, SYCL, SPIR-V, ANARI, NNEF, OpenVX, KTX, COLLADA, Kamaros, Slang, and safety-critical variants such as Vulkan SC, OpenGL SC, and SYCL SC. The consortium is governed by over 150 member organizations including NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, Arm, Qualcomm, Unity, Epic Games, Meta, Microsoft, Sony, Valve, and Amazon, who collaborate through working groups to develop, ratify, and maintain specifications.

Khronos generates revenue through tiered annual membership fees paid by member organizations seeking early specification access and voting rights, plus Adopter Program fees paid by companies implementing Khronos specifications and using the associated trademarks on their conformant products. All standards themselves are royalty-free and freely available to any developer. Conformance testing and certification programs — including the 3D Commerce Certification and Vulkan 1.4 certification milestones (Steam Machine was a notable 2026 conformance) — provide additional revenue streams and ecosystem assurance. Standards are distributed globally via registry.khronos.org and GitHub-hosted open-source conformance test suites.

The consortium pursues horizontal interoperability across the graphics and compute stack, serving customer segments including GPU vendors, software developers, e-commerce and retail (glTF-based 3D product visualization), automotive (Vulkan SC for ISO 26262 functional safety), avionics, and scientific visualization. Recent strategic initiatives include the glTF 2.1 specification (June 2026), the OpenCL 3.1 specification mandating SPIR-V ingestion, the Slang shading language initiative transferred from NVIDIA (November 2024), the Open Metaverse Browser Initiative with the Metaverse Standards Forum and RP1 (June 2026), and the Kamaros camera API joint exploratory group with the European Machine Vision Association.

Name

Khronos Group

Legal name

The Khronos Group, Inc.

Website

https://khronos.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Khronos Group is a non-profit consortium developing royalty-free open standards for 3D graphics, VR/AR, parallel computing, machine learning, and vision processing, serving 150+ member organizations including NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, Unity, and Meta through membership fees and certification programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Beaverton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Companies join Khronos as members to participate in standards development, gain early access to specifications, voting rights, and influence over final specifications before public release
2. Adopter Program Fees: Companies that implement Khronos specifications and wish to use the associated trademarks must become Adopters by paying fees and passing conformance tests
3. Standards Distribution: All Khronos standards are published as royalty-free, free for use by anyone without licensing fees

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

Khronos Group is a not-for-profit industry consortium that develops and maintains royalty-free open standards for 3D graphics, virtual and augmented reality, parallel computing, machine learning, and vision processing. Its portfolio includes graphics APIs (Vulkan, OpenGL, OpenGL ES, WebGL), XR access (OpenXR), heterogeneous compute (OpenCL, SYCL, SPIR-V, Slang), 3D asset formats (glTF, KTX, COLLADA), vision/ML acceleration (OpenVX, NNEF), analytical rendering (ANARI), camera control (Kamaros), and safety-critical variants (Vulkan SC, SYCL SC, OpenGL SC), supported by formal conformance testing and Adopter trademark certification.

Product overview

The Khronos Group is a consortium of industry-leading companies that develops and maintains a comprehensive portfolio of royalty-free open standards for 3D graphics, virtual and augmented reality, parallel computing, machine learning, and vision processing. The portfolio includes core graphics APIs (Vulkan, OpenGL, OpenGL ES), web graphics (WebGL), 3D asset formats (glTF, COLLADA, KTX), XR access (OpenXR), compute standards (OpenCL, SYCL), vision/ML acceleration (OpenVX, NNEF), shader intermediate representation (SPIR-V, Slang), and safety-critical variants (Vulkan SC, SYCL SC). These interconnected standards are designed to work together across platforms from embedded devices to supercomputers, enabling hardware manufacturers and software developers to create interoperable implementations through formal conformance testing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Vulkan Cross-platform 3D graphics and compute API providing low-overhead, explicit control over GPU hardware for high-performance games, CAD, and professional applications.
• OpenGL Legacy cross-platform 3D graphics API for desktop systems, providing hardware-accelerated rendering capabilities.
• OpenGL ES Embedded systems variant of OpenGL, optimized for mobile devices, gaming consoles, and other resource-constrained platforms.
• OpenCL Open royalty-free standard for cross-platform parallel programming of diverse accelerators used in supercomputers, cloud servers, PCs, mobile devices, and embedded platforms.
• OpenXR Unifying royalty-free open standard providing high-performance cross-platform access to virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) platforms and devices.
• WebGL JavaScript API for rendering 2D and 3D graphics in web browsers without plugins, based on OpenGL ES.
• glTF Royalty-free format for efficient transmission and loading of 3D scenes and models, known as the 'JPEG of 3D', enabling interoperability across web, mobile, desktop, and embedded platforms.
• SPIR-V Standardized intermediate representation for GPU shaders and compute kernels, enabling language-agnostic compiler front-ends and protecting kernel intellectual property.
• SYCL Single-source C++ parallel programming standard enabling heterogeneous computing across CPUs, GPUs, and other accelerators using standard C++.
• OpenVX Open royalty-free standard for vision and machine learning inferencing acceleration, enabling portable, optimized vision processing across hardware vendors.
• KTX Container format for GPU texture data, supporting Basis Universal compression for reliable and ubiquitous GPU texture distribution.
• COLLADA Digital Asset Exchange schema for interactive 3D content, enabling interoperability between 3D authoring tools and content pipelines.
• NNEF Neural Network Exchange Format for reliably deploying optimized neural network inference onto diverse edge devices.
• ANARI Analytic Rendering Interface API for scalable 3D data visualization, enabling scene description-based rendering across diverse visualization applications and engines.
• Vulkan SC Safety-critical variant of Vulkan designed for automotive, avionics, and other safety-critical industries requiring deterministic GPU graphics and compute with functional safety compliance.
• SYCL SC Safety-critical variant of SYCL for heterogeneous computing in automotive, avionics, medical, and industrial markets requiring certified computing solutions.
• OpenGL SC Safety-critical graphics API for embedded systems requiring certified graphics solutions.
• Slang Open-source shading language and compiler originally developed by NVIDIA, providing advanced shader programming capabilities with multi-platform support.
• Kamaros Emerging standard for embedded camera and sensor API, being developed in collaboration with EMVA for camera system control across mobile, industrial, automotive, VR, and scientific markets.
• 3D Commerce Certification Program Certification program and working group for standardized 3D product visualization in e-commerce, ensuring consistent rendering of glTF assets across 3D viewers.
• EGL Interface between Khronos rendering APIs (OpenGL, OpenGL ES, OpenVG) and the underlying native platform window system.
• OpenVG 2D vector graphics API providing hardware-accelerated vector rendering for mobile and embedded platforms.
• Conformance Testing Program Formal testing process ensuring products correctly implement Khronos specifications, with conformance test suites and certified product registries.

Quantifiable outcome

• 20+ active open standards covering graphics, VR/AR, compute, AI, and vision processing
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• Metaverse Standards ForumflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 June 2026Collaboration through the Open Metaverse Browser Initiative (OMBI) to develop open standards for the metaverse. Khronos and MS Forum are co-developing Sneeze, an open-source metaverse browser engine for spatial computing under Apache 2.0 license.
• RP1coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 June 2026RP1 is lead architect and maintainer of the Sneeze metaverse browser engine project. Building world's first native commercial metaverse browser powered by Sneeze, with demonstration planned at AWE 2026.
• European Machine Vision Association (EMVA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 October 2022Joint exploratory group to develop open, royalty-free API standards for controlling embedded, mobile, industrial, VR, automotive, and scientific camera systems. Over 70 companies participated in initial exploration group.
• University of Rochester Center for Extended RealityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 February 2021Launched Open Metaverse Academic Alliance to support open standards research and development in spatial computing and metaverse technologies.
• NVIDIAcoreTechnology or IntegrationNVIDIA has supported Slang shading language since 2017; contributed open-source compiler to Khronos Slang Initiative launched November 2024. Khronos President Neil Trevett serves as NVIDIA Vice President.
• Khronos MemberscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOver 150 member companies (AMD, Arm, Epic Games, Google, Imagination, Intel, Meta, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Sony, Unity, Valve, etc.) collaborate on standards development with voting rights and early specification access.
• ISO/IEC JTC 1flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerKhronos successfully transposed glTF 2.0 specification to ISO/IEC 12113:2022 international standard through the PAS submission process.
• Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on 3D geospatial standards; glTF compression and streaming capabilities integrated into OGC's I3S (Indexed 3D Scene Layer) specification.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Metaverse Standards Forum: Khronos's primary partner in the Open Metaverse Browser Initiative (OMBI) and co-developer of the Sneeze open-source metaverse browser engine. Similar member-funded consortium model applied to spatial computing interoperability.
• Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC): Member-funded consortium developing geospatial interoperability standards; Khronos collaborates with OGC on glTF integration into the I3S specification. Directly comparable in member-funded standards development and conformance programs.
• Apache Software Foundation: Volunteer-driven, member-supported non-profit stewarding open-source projects under a vendor-neutral governance model. Comparable in governance structure and member-funded operating model, though focused on code rather than specifications.
• Linux Foundation: Vendor-neutral consortium hosting open-source projects and standards (LF Energy, Open Mainframe Project, etc.). Directly comparable organizational model for member-funded, royalty-free technology governance across the stack.
• Ecma International: International standards organization that standardized ECMAScript/JavaScript and adopted OpenGL as a standard; operates a similar member-funded, consensus-based process for technical specifications and counts many of the same member companies as Khronos.
• Eclipse Foundation: Not-for-profit foundation supporting open-source projects and working groups (Jakarta EE, Adoptium, etc.). Highly comparable member-driven model for collaborative development of cross-vendor technology specifications.
• World Wide Web Consortium (W3C): Member-funded consortium that develops royalty-free open web standards (HTML, CSS, WebGL was originally a W3C working group before moving to Khronos). Closely comparable member-driven, multi-stakeholder standards model applied to graphics/web technology.

Broad incumbents

• IEEE Standards Association: Large, established standards body covering a much broader technology scope (networking, power, AI, etc.) than Khronos. Comparable in producing formal standards with industry participation, but not focused on graphics/compute/XR.
• ISO/IEC JTC 1: Joint technical committee that transposed Khronos's glTF 2.0 to ISO/IEC 12113:2022 via the PAS process. Functions as the upstream international standardization body Khronos engages with, with much broader scope.
• Object Management Group (OMG): Member-funded consortium developing vendor-neutral, technology-independent specifications (UML, CORBA, DDS). Comparable standards-body governance and conformance-program model, though focused on enterprise middleware rather than graphics/compute.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat7 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/thekhronosgroup
• GitHubgithub.com/KhronosGroup
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/khronosgroup
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/khronos-group
• Facebookfacebook.com/TheKhronosGroup

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Khronos Group