Yeah, I was confused by that. Isn't AVR already RISC? It seems the "game changing" element here is its openness, not its architecture.

Here's what you're missing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPrUmViN_5c

Followed up with the best attempt at a pickup line by a hacker in the movies. Back before the movies had them making out with random women in bathrooms over job offers involving sex, alcohol, bombs, and Houdini tributes. Hackers got really cool really fast. ;)

Author of the original piece here. You need to watch Hackers.

I think the point is that "RISC" should have been "RISC-V". "RISC" = "Reduced Instruction Set Computer", which encompasses many architectures. It's more of an approach to designing an architecture, and encompasses things like ARM ISAs, etc, whereas RISC-V is a specific architecture.

The line "RISC architecture is going to change everything" is a quote from a film (Hackers, 1995) that you're expected to know by heart if you want to be in this treehouse, or something.