Chip Maker Intel Eyeing Autonomous Cars, Acquires Israeli Startup Moovit For $900 Million

Companies pursuing autonomous vehicle technology have often sought the involvement of those experts in a certain aspect of it. Intel Corp. is the latest example of that, as it has acquired Moovit, an Israel-based mobility service provider and journey planner app, for a whopping $900 million (~Rs 6791 crore).

The new acquisition will make Moovit a subsidiary of Mobileye, another Israeli firm that Intel acquired back in 2017 to make sensors for autonomous vehicles. Moovit¡¯s data on mobility will now help improve the sensors and algorithms produced by Mobileye.

So what is this data?

Founded in 2012, Moovit provides real time information to users of the fastest commute option for them from point A to point B. The suggested routes contain a mix of different modes of transport. Moovit thus, has a whole lot of data records of public transport as well almost all other modes of transport along with their respective time stamps.

(Representative Image: Reuters)

The said data is not just a lot, it is said to be the ¡®world¡¯s largest transit data repository,¡¯ as per the, the company¡¯s chief growth and marketing officer - Yovav Meydad. The one piece of limitation with the data is that while it stores transit usage analytics, it does not collect any private information from the user.

Intel¡¯s new release says that the database is a result of working with ¡°7,500 key transit agencies and operators¡± over years.

¡°The addition of Moovit brings Intel¡¯s Mobileye closer to achieving its plan to become a complete mobility provider, including robotaxi services, which is forecast to be an estimated $160-billion opportunity by 2030,¡± the news release said.

Post the takeover, Moovit will retain its brand and consumer applications. It will also continue its existing partnerships with companies like Microsoft, Uber and others ride-sharing and mobility ecosystem companies.

This is Intel¡¯s second major investment in its pursuit to bring in the era of autonomous vehicles. With Mobileye alone, Intel marked a revenue of $879 million (~Rs 6626 crore) in 2019. Going forward, Intel would build on that as the self-driving technology evolves and is deployed in vehicles more rapidly than ever before.

On a similar line, Volvo recently announced its collaboration with silicon valley startup Luminar that deals in Lidars. You can read all about the partnership here.