diff --git a/include/triton/lang/ast.h b/include/triton/lang/ast.h
index f523cb835..eb442de11 100644
--- a/include/triton/lang/ast.h
+++ b/include/triton/lang/ast.h
@@ -431,6 +431,7 @@ public:
   void DerefOpTypeChecking();
   void ReduceOpTypeChecking();
   void UnaryArithmOpTypeChecking();
+  void BitcastOpTypeChecking();
   void CastOpTypeChecking();
 
 protected:
diff --git a/include/triton/lang/code_gen.h b/include/triton/lang/code_gen.h
index a29cf268b..155706ddc 100644
--- a/include/triton/lang/code_gen.h
+++ b/include/triton/lang/code_gen.h
@@ -91,7 +91,8 @@ protected:
   ir::value* GenAssignOp(Expr* lvalue, ir::value* rhs);
   ir::value* GenBroadcastOp(ir::value* src, ir::type* dst_ty);
   ir::value* GenNumcastOp(ir::value*src, ir::type* dst_ty);
-  ir::value* GenCastOp(ir::value* op, ir::type* type);
+  ir::value* GenSemCastOp(ir::value* op, ir::type* type);
+  ir::value* GenBitCastOp(ir::value* src, ir::type* dst_ty);
 
   // Triton-IR types
   static ir::type* GenIRType(::Type* type, ir::context &ctx);
diff --git a/include/triton/lang/token.h b/include/triton/lang/token.h
index 1b2868849..2552f1769 100644
--- a/include/triton/lang/token.h
+++ b/include/triton/lang/token.h
@@ -164,6 +164,7 @@ public:
     ALIGNOF, // _Alignof
     GENERIC, // _Generic
     IMAGINARY, // _Imaginary
+    BITCAST,
     // KEYWORD END
 
     IDENTIFIER,
diff --git a/lib/lang/ast.cc b/lib/lang/ast.cc
index 1fd8b2dcb..30031c757 100644
--- a/lib/lang/ast.cc
+++ b/lib/lang/ast.cc
@@ -646,6 +646,9 @@ void UnaryOp::TypeChecking() {
   case '!':
     return UnaryArithmOpTypeChecking();
 
+  case Token::BITCAST:
+    return BitcastOpTypeChecking();
+
   case Token::CAST:
     return CastOpTypeChecking();
 
@@ -722,6 +725,11 @@ void UnaryOp::UnaryArithmOpTypeChecking() {
   }
 }
 
+void UnaryOp::BitcastOpTypeChecking() {
+  auto operandType = Type::MayCast(operand_->Type());
+  if(type_->Width() != operandType->Width())
+    Error(this, "cannot bitcast to type of different width");
+}
 
 void UnaryOp::CastOpTypeChecking() {
   auto operandType = Type::MayCast(operand_->Type());
diff --git a/lib/lang/code_gen.cc b/lib/lang/code_gen.cc
index 8bbf39081..41e8afe98 100644
--- a/lib/lang/code_gen.cc
+++ b/lib/lang/code_gen.cc
@@ -197,7 +197,8 @@ void Generator::VisitUnaryOp(UnaryOp* unary) {
     case Token::MINUS:       return set_ret(GenUnaryMinus(arg));
     case '~':                return error_not_implemented();
     case '!':                return error_not_implemented();
-    case Token::CAST:        return set_ret(GenCastOp(arg, GenIRType(unary->Type(), *ctx_)));
+    case Token::BITCAST:     return set_ret(GenBitCastOp(arg, GenIRType(unary->Type(), *ctx_)));
+    case Token::CAST:        return set_ret(GenSemCastOp(arg, GenIRType(unary->Type(), *ctx_)));
     case Token::REDUCE: {
       int ax, tag;
       UnaryOp::decodeRed(unary->info_, ax, tag);
@@ -579,10 +580,15 @@ ir::value* Generator::GenNumcastOp(ir::value*src, ir::type* dst_ty) {
   }
 }
 
-ir::value* Generator::GenCastOp(ir::value* src, ir::type* dst_ty) {
+ir::value* Generator::GenSemCastOp(ir::value* src, ir::type* dst_ty) {
   return GenNumcastOp(GenBroadcastOp(src, dst_ty), dst_ty);
 }
 
+ir::value* Generator::GenBitCastOp(ir::value* src, ir::type* dst_ty) {
+  return bld_->create_cast(ir::BitCast, GenBroadcastOp(src, dst_ty), dst_ty);
+}
+
+
 // Triton-IR Attr
 ir::attribute Generator::GenIRAttr(ASTNode::Attr attr) {
   if(attr.kind == ASTNode::Attr::MULTIPLEOF) {
diff --git a/lib/lang/parser.cc b/lib/lang/parser.cc
index ae37d9567..acf9167b1 100644
--- a/lib/lang/parser.cc
+++ b/lib/lang/parser.cc
@@ -664,6 +664,17 @@ QualType Parser::ParseTypeName() {
 
 Expr* Parser::ParseCastExpr() {
   auto tok = ts_.Next();
+  // bitcast
+  if (tok->tag_ == Token::BITCAST) {
+    ts_.Expect('<');
+    auto type = ParseTypeName();
+    ts_.Expect('>');
+    ts_.Expect('(');
+    auto operand = ParseExpr();
+    ts_.Expect(')');
+    return UnaryOp::New(Token::BITCAST, operand, type);
+  }
+  // semantic cast
   if (tok->tag_ == '(' && IsTypeName(ts_.Peek())) {
     auto type = ParseTypeName();
     ts_.Expect(')');
diff --git a/lib/lang/token.cc b/lib/lang/token.cc
index c4a95c0c4..e5d395f8b 100644
--- a/lib/lang/token.cc
+++ b/lib/lang/token.cc
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ const std::unordered_map<std::string, int> Token::kwTypeMap_ {
   { "void", Token::VOID },
   { "volatile", Token::VOLATILE },
   { "while", Token::WHILE },
+  { "bitcast", Token::BITCAST },
   { "_Alignas", Token::ALIGNAS },
   { "_Alignof", Token::ALIGNOF },
   { "_Atomic", Token::ATOMIC },
@@ -145,6 +146,7 @@ const std::unordered_map<int, const char*> Token::tagLexemeMap_ {
   { Token::VOID, "void" },
   { Token::VOLATILE, "volatile" },
   { Token::WHILE, "while" },
+  { Token::BITCAST, "bitcast" },
   { Token::ALIGNAS, "_Alignas" },
   { Token::ALIGNOF, "_Alignof" },
   { Token::ATOMIC, "_Atomic" },
diff --git a/lib/runtime/function.cc b/lib/runtime/function.cc
index 3cc5ea87b..70e4df12f 100644
--- a/lib/runtime/function.cc
+++ b/lib/runtime/function.cc
@@ -283,6 +283,15 @@ extern int get_num_programs(int);
 extern float sqrtf(float);
 extern int select(bool, int, int);
 extern char __constant__ * calloc(int);
+
+typedef unsigned char uint8;
+typedef unsigned short uint16;
+typedef unsigned int uint32;
+typedef unsigned long uint64;
+typedef char int8;
+typedef short int16;
+typedef int int32;
+typedef long int64;
 )";
 }