Intel acquires Israeli automotive technology firm Mobileye for $15.3bn

Intel has completed its previously announced tender offer to acquire outstanding ordinary shares of Israel-based firm Mobileye in a deal valued at $15.3bn.

Mobileye develops computer vision and machine learning, data analysis, localisation and mapping for advanced driver assistance systems, as well as autonomous driving.

Announced in March, the acquisition is expected to accelerate innovation for the automotive industry.

Mobileye will now become an integral part of Intel business and will start building a fleet of more than 100 fully autonomous (level 4 SAE) vehicles that will be tested in the US, Israel, and Europe.

The first vehicles are planned to be deployed later this year.

Mobileye future CEO/CTO Amnon Shashua said: “Building cars and testing them in real-world conditions provides immediate feedback and will accelerate delivery of technologies and solutions for highly and fully autonomous vehicles.

“Geographic diversity is very important as different regions have very diverse driving styles as well as different road conditions and signage. Our goal is to develop autonomous vehicle technology that can be deployed anywhere, which means we need to test and train the vehicles in varying locations.”

When building autonomous vehicles, Mobileye will combine its computer vision, sensing, fusion, mapping, and driving policy capabilities with Intel’s open compute platforms, 5G communication technologies, and expertise in the data centre to deliver a complete ‘car-to-cloud’ system.

The 100-vehicle fleet will feature multiple car brands and vehicle types.

The test fleet will include a hybrid solution based on Mobileye and Intel technology that will be showcased to the existing as well as the prospective customers in a real-world landscape.

The vehicles will involve new concepts of mapping and safety validation, which are geared toward scalability.