Intel: Mobileye Acquisition to ‘Accelerate Future of Autonomous Driving’

Intel on Aug. 8 completed its bid to buy 84 percent of Mobileye’s outstanding ordinary shares, in a deal that marries a semiconductor giant to a leader in advanced driver-assistance technology.

“The acquisition is expected to accelerate innovation for the automotive industry and positions Intel as a leading technology provider in the fast-growing market for highly and fully autonomous vehicles,” Intel said in a news release. “The combination of Intel and Mobileye will allow Mobileye’s leading computer-vision expertise (the ‘eyes’) to complement Intel’s high-performance computing and connectivity expertise (the ‘brains’) to create automated driving solutions from cloud to car.”

With the acquisition, Intel hopes to capitalize on a projected $70 billion market for vehicle systems, data and services.

“With Mobileye, Intel emerges as a leader in creating the technology foundation that the automotive industry needs for an autonomous future,” said Intel CEO Brian Krzanich. “It’s an exciting engineering challenge and a huge growth opportunity for Intel. Even more exciting is the potential for autonomous cars to transform industries, improve society and save millions of lives.”

Intel’s Automated Driving Group will combine its operations with Mobileye. The combined Mobileye organization will lead Intel’s autonomous driving efforts, “and will have the full support of Intel resources and technology to define and deliver cloud-to-car solutions for the automotive market segment,” Intel said.

Mobileye will remain headquartered in Israel and led by Amnon Shashua, who will serve as Intel senior vice president and Mobileye CEO and chief technology officer. In addition, Ziv Aviram, Mobileye co-founder, president and CEO, is retiring from the company, effective immediately.

“Leading in autonomous driving technology requires a combination of innovative proprietary software products and versatile open-system hardware platforms that enable customers and partners to customize solutions,” Shashua said. “For the first time, the auto industry has a single partner with deep expertise and a cultural legacy in both areas. Mobileye is very excited to begin this new chapter.”