Intel Corp is buying transportation planning service Moovit Inc for US$900 million as the world’s largest computer chipmaker moves further down the road in its effort to build self-driving vehicles.
The deal announced on Monday gives Intel another tool to use in its push to become a major player in the race to create the technology needed to build fleets of taxis that would be able to transport passengers without a human driver behind the wheel.
Moovit, an eight-year-old company based in Israel, makes an app that compiles data from public transit systems, ride-hailing services and other resources to help its 800 million users plan the best ways to get around.
Photo: AFP
Intel plans to combine Moovit with Mobileye, a self-driving vehicle specialist that Intel bought for about US$15 billion in 2017.
Since that deal, Mobileye’s revenue has ballooned from US$210 million in 2017 to US$879 million last year. That is a reflection of the big bets being placed on automated driving by both major technology companies, such as Google spinoff Waymo and Apple Inc, and automakers such as General Motors Co and Toyota Motor Corp.
“Intel’s purpose is to create world-changing technology that enriches the lives of every person on Earth,” Intel chief executive officer Bob Swan said.
Despite its rapid growth, Mobileye still only accounts for a sliver of Intel’s annual revenue of US$72 billion.
Intel, which is based in Santa Clara, California, is upping its ante on self-driving vehicles at a time when many other companies are bracing for an extended economic downturn that already has thrust more than 30 million Americans into the unemployment lines.
However, the stay-at-home orders imposed as part of the coronavirus pandemic have only made people more aware of how dependent they are on technology, including the Intel chips inside PCs and a wide range of other devices.
While the recession would take a bite out of the technology industry too, the long-term picture for the biggest companies still looks bright.
Deep-pocketed companies, such as Intel, which is sitting on US$11.4 billion cash, are expected to forge ahead with their investments in fields they believe would turn into gold mines.
Intel already acquired a stake in Moovit in 2018 when it was among a group of investors who injected US$50 million into the start-up. Since its inception, Moovit had raised more than US$130 million from venture capitalists and other investors.
After Intel invested in Moovit, Mobileye chief executive officer Amnon Shashua joined the start-up’s board of directors as an observer.
Shashua would oversee Moovit’s roughly 200 employees, including its cofounder and chief executive officer Nir Erez, who would become an executive vice president within the Mobileye group.
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