Intel is putting its stake in the ground in the self-driving space by acquiring Mobileye, a self-driving technology company which is a global leader in the development of computer vision and machine learning, data analysis, localisation and mapping for advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous driving.
The total bill, a whopping USD$15.3billion in total.
Mobileye was in the news spotlight when a Tesla Model S crash caused a fatality in Florida.
As desktop sales shrink around the world, Intel is finding new grounds to explore and since the hottest tech in the grapevine is autonomous cars, what better way than to jump into that technology with an outright purchase.
This acquisition will combine the best-in-class technologies from both companies, spanning connectivity, computer vision, data centre, sensor fusion, high-performance computing, localisation and mapping, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Together with partners and customers, Intel and Mobileye expect to deliver driving solutions that will transform the automotive industry. The combined global autonomous driving organisation, which will consist of Mobileye and Intel’s Automated Driving Group, will be headquartered in Israel and led by Prof. Amnon Shashua, Mobileye’s CoFounder, Chairman and CTO. The organisation will support both companies’ existing production programs and build upon relationships with automotive OEMs, Tier-1 suppliers and semiconductor partners to develop advanced driving assist, highly autonomous and fully autonomous driving programs. Intel Senior Vice President Doug Davis will oversee the combined organisation’s engagement across Intel’s business groups and will report to Prof. Amnon Shashua after the transaction’s closing.
“This acquisition is a great step forward for our shareholders, the automotive industry and consumers,” said Brian Krzanich, Intel CEO. “Intel provides critical foundational technologies for autonomous driving including plotting the car’s path and making real-time driving decisions. Mobileye brings the industry’s best automotive-grade computer vision and strong momentum with automakers and suppliers. Together, we can accelerate the future of autonomous driving with improved performance in a cloud-to-car solution at a lower cost for automakers.”
“We expect the growth towards autonomous driving to be transformative. It will provide consumers with safer, more flexible, and less costly transportation options, and provide incremental business model opportunities for our automaker customers,” said Mr Ziv Aviram, Mobileye Co-Founder, President and CEO. “By pooling together our infrastructure and resources, we can enhance and accelerate our combined know-how in the areas of mapping, virtual driving, simulators, development tool chains, hardware, data centres and high-performance computing platforms. Together, we will provide an attractive value proposition for the automotive industry.”
