Intel is betting heavily on a future that includes autonomous vehicles becoming ubiquitous.
In news today, Phillip E. Ross at the IEEE web site, reports on the acquisition
by Intel of an Israeli company, Mobileye, for USD15.3 billion.
Apparently this $15 billion makes Mobileye the third-largest market valuation for any publicly traded Israeli company and is high for an
auto-parts supplier.
No doubt there will be one big celebration party going on at the
Mobileye offices in Jerusalem tonight.
By comparison, Intel itself has a market capitalization of over USD163 billion.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Phillip E. Ross
Intel is buying Mobileye, the Israeli robocar firm, for $15.3 billion. It’s one of the largest robocar acquisitions in a two-year buying frenzy that has swept both the auto industry and the tech companies that want to eat its lunch.
Mobileye made its name selling machine vision systems for driver-assistance features, such as lane keeping and emergency stopping. Unlike many companies, notably Waymo, it has so far eschewed expensive lidar, choosing instead to depend on a single (“mono”) camera. Mobileye has done work for most of the major car makers in the world; the most prominent—but by no means the largest—such relationship was with Tesla Motors, which ended with some acrimony last year.
Intel has thus bought itself not only a full suite of robocar technology but also wide-ranging contacts in the auto industry. Its newly established self-driving unit also incorporates a 15 percent stake, which Intel acquired last month, in Here, a mapping company that BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen bought from Nokia in 2015 for $2.6 billion.
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Mobileye was founded in 1999 by one researcher out of an Israeli university.
It showcases the potential for Australian startups who are willing to take
risks to enter into the autonomous vehicle parts supply market.
With the closing of car manufacturing in Australia, it might be the type
of new opportunity the country needs.
Article here :-
http://spectrum.ieee.org/cars-that-t...for-15-billion