Intel, the largest computer chip manufacturer has decided to buy driverless technology firm Mobileye for $15.3 billion. Intel said it expected the transaction to close within the next nine months. Mobileye accounts for 70 per cent of the global market for advanced driver-assistance and anti-collision systems.
The two companies are already collaborating with BMW on a project to put a fleet of around 40 self-driving test vehicles on the road in the second half of this year. For a decade, Mobileye has relied on STMicroelectronics to produce chips which the company sells to many of the world’s car manufacturers for its current, third-generation of driver-assistance systems.
However Mobileye also teamed up with Intel for its fifth-generation of chips that aim to be used in fully autonomous vehicles and are scheduled to be delivered around 2021.