In mid-2022, Intel plans to take Mobileye public in the United States. This deal could value Intel’s self-driving unit at more than $50 billion. Chip giant Intel expects to hold on to majority ownership in the unit after the initial public offering (IPO).
The largest employer of Israel’s high-tech industry with nearly 14,000 workers also expects to retain Mobileye’s executive team and has no intention to spin off its majority ownership in Mobileye.
The company also stated that it would continue to provide technical resources to the automaker. Mobileye Chief Executive Officer Amnon Shashua said that the partnership yields substantial revenue and free cash flow to Mobileye, allowing funding for autonomous vehicle development.
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“Amnon and I determined that an IPO provides the best opportunity to build on Mobileye’s track record for innovation and unlock value for shareholders,” Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said in the statement.
Mobileye was founded in 1999, and in 2017, Intel bought Mobileye for $15.3 billion, putting it into direct competition with rivals Qualcomm Inc and Nvidia Corp for developing driverless systems for global automakers. Mobileye has taken a different approach from its competitors, using a camera-based system that helps cars with lane change assistance and adaptive cruise control.
Mobileye is currently using lidar units from Luminar Technologies but plans to build its own “lidar” sensor to help its cars map out a 3D view of the road. However, Mobileye has never used Intel’s factories to make its chips. Instead, it relies on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co for all of its “EyeQ” chips to date.
