Mobileye – About to power every car on earth

Mobileye is a company that develops autonomous driving technologies and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADS), which include cameras, chips, and software. Founded in 1999 by Professor Amnon Shashua, when he turned his academic research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem into a monocular vision system to detect automobiles using only cameras and software algorithms on a processor.

The introduction of the company followed Shashua’s connections with the auto manufacturers through his previous startup Cognitens, a company that provides 3d optical solutions for measuring sheets for metal parts and assemblies. The company’s headquarters is located in Jerusalem, Israel, and boasts an employee strength of 2500 employees, with a revenue of 1.4 billion dollars.

Following a critical meeting with an Asian OEM, the startup was able to secure funding for a demo. Shashua formed a team with his two close friends, Ziv Aviram and Norio Ichihashi. Sashua and Aviram became two-in-the-box in managing the new startup. Aviram was responsible for the operations, finance, and investor relations while Shashua was responsible for the technology, R&D, and strategic vision of the company. Ichihashi was responsible for the Asian market, which was the first engagement market with Original Equipment Manufacturers (O.E.Ms) and Tier-1s, until 2001. It was at that time Dr. Gideon Stein who had recently completed his doctoral study under the co-supervision of Shashua at MIT, was called to lead the R&D of Mobileye.

Mobileye established its first research center in 2004 and launched the first generation Eye.Q1 processor in 2008 just four years later. The company offered driver assistance, including automatic energy braking (A.E.B). One of the first vehicles to use this technology was the BMW 7 series, the fifth generation. Subsequent versions of the chip were released in the years 2010, 2014, and 2018 respectively.

In 2013, Mobileye sold a 25% stake in the company to Blue-chip investors for 400 million dollars, evaluating the company at a sum of approximately 1.5 billion dollars. Mobileye raised 890 million dollars and became the largest Israeli IPO in U.S. history when it went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014.

By the end of 2014, the company’s technology was implemented in 160 car models made by 18 different original equipment manufacturers.

In August 2015, Tesla motors made the announcement that it would add Mobileye’s technology to its Model S cars. It was reported that Tesla did not consult Mobileye about its plans, and after the first deadly crash of a self-driving model S with the autopilot active became publicized in June 2016, the company made the end to the partnership it had with Tesla known to the public.

Mobileye CEO Amnon Shashua was reported to have claimed that Tesla “was pushing the envelope in terms of safely” and that the autopilot is a driver assistance system, not a driverless system therefore wouldn’t recognize a lateral turn across the path and would not have those features till 2018.

So, In 2017, Mobileye unveiled a mathematical model for safe self-driving cars based on a research paper by Amnon and Shai Shalev-Shwartz who was the VP of technology. The paper outlined a system called Responsibility Sensitivity Safety (RSS). Shai got promoted to Chief Technology Officer in 2019.

Intel announced in March 2017 that it would be acquiring Mobileye for 15.3 billion dollars which became the biggest acquisition of an Israeli tech company. Mobileye and Volkswagen released plans to commercialize Mobility-as-a-service (M.a.a.s) in Israel. Mobileye began robotaxi trials with NIO electric vehicles in Israel in May 2020. Due to the delay in the supply of Volkswagen minivans, the robotaxi was unveiled in 2021, at the IAA mobility show in Munich and New York City. Mobileye has partnered with a number of automobile manufacturers throughout its time of existence.

The company partnered with Cadillac and BMW to launch multiple series production for LDW on GM Cadillac STS and DTS vehicles and also on BMW 5 and 6 series vehicles. In 2016, Mobileye partnered with Delphi to develop a near-complete autonomous driving system by 2019.

In early 2017 the company formed a partnership with BMW to integrate Mobileye technology into the vehicles going into the market in 2018. In 2018 it partnered with Nissan, BMW, and Volkswagen.

In 2019, Mobileye and NIO partnered to develop A.Vs for consumer markets in China and other major territories. The company partnered with Ford in July 2020 for its supply of the EyeQ camera-based gear and software across Ford’s global product line. That same year, it announced its collaboration with WILLER29 to launch a robotaxi service in Japan, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia.

Also, it partnered with Geely for A.D.A.S. Intel also acquired Moovit, a mobility-as-a-service company to enhance Mobileye’s M.a.a.S offering. In February 2021, Moblieye, Transdev, ATS, and Lohr partnered to develop and deploy autonomous shuttles. The company partnered with Udelv on the company’s self-driving delivery vehicles called transporters, with the goal to begin commercial operations in 2023.

In May of that year, Toyota Motor Corporation selected Mobileye and ZF to develop and supply ADAS for a number of vehicle platforms. The company also began a partnership with Mahindra in 2021.

In December 2021, Intel announced its plan to take Mobileye automotive public via an IPO in 2022, while maintaining its Majority Ownership of the company. With all the partnership deals Mobileye is going into, can Mobileye take over the self-driving car market and power every car on the street? Only time will tell but with the way Mobileye is going, it may end up becoming part of every major automotive brand in the world which will give it an indispensable place, not only in the autonomous driving market but in the whole automotive market.