Intel invests $15bn into vehicle autonomy

Intel is investing in the future of data acquisition from autonomous vehicles with the $15.3bn purchase of Mobileye, a leading computer vision technology company based in Israel.

According to Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, the autonomous vehicle systems, data and services market is estimated to reach $70bn by 2030.

“The combination of Intel’s high performance computing and connectivity solutions with Mobileye’s best in class computer vision technology will put us in a position to accelerate innovation for car-makers,” he said.

In a statement to Intel employees, Krzanich explained that the deal has been motivated by data acquisition, adding that at four terabytes of data per day, the average autonomous car will generate the data equivalent of approximately 3,000 people.

He said: “Put just one million autonomous vehicles on the road and you have the data equivalent of half the world’s population. This massive amount of data requires all of Intel’s assets to provide the cost-effective high-performance solutions our customers need.

“The addition of Mobileye to our family provides the data path to our computing solutions becoming the intelligent set of eyes that will allow a vehicle to see and define the world around it.”

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 co-founder, chairman and CTO.

The transaction, which has been approved by the boards of Intel and Mobileye, is expected to close within the next nine months.