Intel makes $15.3bn bet on driverless cars

US chipmaker buys Israeli tech specialist Mobileye in move into autonomous market

Intel HQ in California
Intel headquarters in Santa Clara, California
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan / Getty)

Intel has taken a huge gamble on driverless cars with a takeover of technology specialist Mobileye.

The US chipmaker will pay $15.3bn (£12.5bn) for the Israeli company, which develops autonomous driving systems, as it looks to move into a market it believes could be worth as much as $70bn by 2030.

Explaining the deal, Intel said that as cars "progress from assisted driving to fully autonomous, they are increasingly becoming data centres on wheels".

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According to the BBC, the company believes that by 2020, "driverless cars will generate 4,000GB, or four terabytes, of data a day that can be mined for information".

Betsy Van Hees, an analyst at Loop Capital Markets, says: "It's an area where [Intel] has had very little presence - the automotive market - and so this is a tremendous opportunity for them to get into a market that has significant growth opportunities," said.

Earlier this month, Nissan tested its self-driving electric Leaf car, which it hopes to make available by 2020. Google and Uber have also extensively tested driverless cars and Apple is reported to be running trials.

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