Mobileye acquisition by Intel will benefit BMW autonomous cars

Intel has just announced their acquisition of the self-driving tech firm Mobileye. The acquisition is worth about $15.3 billion and is a key move for both brands. This will enable the two companies to combine their driverless software and hardware knowledge and get closer to the goal of putting a fully autonomous car on the road. This acquisition will also bring benefits to BMW.

BMW is hoping that the acquisition will help speed up the rate of development of the autonomous vehicle systems that the German automaker will need to create the iNext. If all goes well, BMW targets to launch this autonomous car in 2021. This car will offer different levels of autonomy, including the highest level where no driver will be required.

“We welcome the news about the acquisition and are looking forward to working together in an even stronger relationship to bring highly and fully-automated driving to the streets by 2021, when we launch the iNEXT,” BMW said in a statement.

Intel said: “The acquisition will couple the best-in-class technologies from both companies, including Intel’s high-performance computing and connectivity expertise and Mobileye’s leading computer vision expertise to create automated driving solutions from the cloud through the network to the car.

“The combination is expected to accelerate innovation for the automotive industry and position Intel as a leading technology provider in the fast-growing market for highly and fully autonomous vehicles.”

It said purchasing Mobileye comes as part of its strategy to invest in data-intensive market opportunities that “build on the company’s strengths in computing and connectivity from the cloud, through the network, to the device”.

Source: Autocar