RISC stands for Reduced Instruction Set Computer, a CPU design strategy that uses a small, highly optimized set of instructions. Unlike Complex Instruction Set Computer (CISC) architectures, RISC processors execute instructions faster by simplifying hardware and focusing on efficiency. This approach leads to improved performance, lower power consumption, and easier implementation of advanced features like pipelining. RISC is widely used in modern devices, including smartphones, embedded systems, and servers. Notable RISC architectures include ARM and RISC-V, both of which have become industry standards for various applications due to their flexibility and scalability.