Intel slaps down $15bn on the purchase of driverless car specialist Mobileye
Intel has shuffled from a passenger seat to the driving seat of the autonomous vehicle revolution after slapping down $15bn on the purchase of Israeli driverless car specialist Mobileye.
The audacious move puts Intel on a collision course with rivals Nvidia and Qualcomm which are already racing down the highway toward the ultimate destination of autonomous driverless systems.
Intel has grown to become the world’s largest manufacturer of computer chips but is keen to diversify into the world of automotive suppliers after sensing a potential windfall from a looming transport revolution.
In an effort to quantify the scale of this market Goldman Sachs research calculated that driver assistance programs and autonomous vehicles will grow from $3bn in 2015 through $96bn in 2025 to $290bn in 2035.
Despite rampant optimism sweeping the industry on the back of these figures some have questioned whether the technology will be ready for deployment in just four years, prompting some analysts to ponder whether Intel may have overpaid.
Mobileye works in a diverse range of fields including cameras, sensor chips, in-car networking, roadway mapping, machine learning, cloud software and data fusion and management.
Driverless cars aren't the only big bet to be placed by Intel with the chip-maker also targetting AI as another potential font of riches.