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Intel Acquires Self-Driving Tech Firm Mobileye For $15 Billion

With Mobileye under its wing, Intel said it will be able to 'accelerate innovation for the automotive industry.'

Angela Moscaritolo
 & Angela Moscaritolo Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

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Intel is making a huge investment in autonomous driving.

The chip giant on Monday announced plans to acquire Jerusalem-based self-driving technology firm Mobileye for $15 billion. The transaction is expected to close within the next nine months.

Mobileye makes computer vision, machine learning, data analysts, and mapping technology for advanced driver assisted systems and autonomous driving. Intel said the acquisition will position it as a "leading technology partner for the fast-growing market for highly and fully autonomous vehicles." With Mobileye under its wing, Intel said it will be able to "accelerate innovation for the automotive industry."

Intel sees huge moneymaking opportunities here. The company estimates the vehicle systems, data, and services market to reach $70 billion by 2030.

Following the acquisition, Mobileye will combine with Intel's existing automated driving group. The team will be headquartered in Israel and led by Mobileye's Co-Founder, Chairman, and CTO Amnon Shashu.

"This acquisition is a great step forward for our shareholders, the automotive industry and consumers," Intel CEO Brian Krzanich said in a statement (PDF). "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."

Intel said fully autonomous vehicles are increasingly becoming "data centers on wheels," and estimated they will generate 4TB of data per day by 2020. The company said that the complexity and computing power of automated vehicles created big opportunities for its high-end processors and other technologies.

Meanwhile, Intel and Mobileye already have one big-name customer: BMW. The companies in July 2016 announced they were teaming up to bring fully automated vehicle to market by 2021. AT CES this year, the companies announced that autonomous BMW 7 Series vehicles would be hitting roads in the US and Europe this year for testing.

About Our Expert

Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo

Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

My Experience

I'm PCMag's managing editor for consumer electronics, overseeing an experienced team of analysts covering smart home, home entertainment, wearables, fitness and health tech, and various other product categories. I have been with PCMag for more than 10 years, and in that time have written more than 6,000 articles and reviews for the site. I previously served as an analyst focused on smart home and wearable devices, and before that I was a reporter covering consumer tech news. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade. 

Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

The Technology I Use

My little Florida beach bungalow is brimming with smart home tech. I have a smart speaker or display in every room, allowing me to control other connected devices by voice. The Nest Hub on my bedside table lets me set wake-up alarms, control my smart light bulbs, and set the temperature on my smart thermostat. I use the Amazon Echo Show 8 on my kitchen counter to browse recipes, reorder protein powder, check the weather, and watch the news while I do dishes. 

Because I suffer from allergies, air purifiers are essential. My favorite model is the Dyson Purifier Cool TP07, which doubles as a fan and continuously sends indoor pollution data to its companion mobile app. 

My pitbull Bradley sheds, so a good robot vacuum is a must. I currently use a premium Ecovacs Deebot that can both vacuum and mop, empty its own dustbin, and wash its own mop cloth. 

For fitness, I like to mix up my routine with cycling, indoor rowing, running, and strength training in addition to yoga. I take classes on the Tonal 2 smart strength training machine, I row indoors on an Aviron machine, and track my beach runs with an Apple Watch while listening to music on my Apple AirPods Pro. On the weekends, I love riding e-bikes like the rugged, beach-friendly Aventon Aventure for fun and fitness.

My job involves a lot of virtual meetings, so a quality webcam, microphone, and ring light are important. I use the Jabra PanaCast 20 webcam, the Elgato Wave: 3 microphone, and a Yesker tripod ring light. 

As for my preferred phone platform, I'm an iPhone person, but I've also extensively used Android for product testing.

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