Mobileye Global Inc. is a company developing autonomous driving technologies and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) including cameras, computer chips and software. Mobileye was acquired by Intel in 2017 and went public again in 2022. Mobileye is based in Jerusalem, Israel, and also has sales and marketing offices in Midtown, Manhattan, US; Shanghai, China; Tokyo, Japan; and Düsseldorf, Germany.
History
Mobileye was founded in 1999 by Hebrew University professor Amnon Shashua when he evolved his academic research into a vision system which could detect vehicles using a camera and software algorithms on a processor. Since its establishment, it has developed into a supplier of automotive safety technologies based on adding "intelligence" to inexpensive cameras for commercialization.
Mobileye established its first research center in 2004, and launched the first generation EyeQ1 processor four years later, in 2008. The technology offered driver assistance including AEB (automatic emergency braking). One of the first vehicles to use this technology was the fifth-generation BMW 7 Series. Subsequent versions of the chip were released in 2010, 2014 and 2018.
In 2013, Mobileye announced the sale of a 25% stake to Blue-chip investors for $400 million, valuing the company at approximately $1.5 billion.
Mobileye went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014. It raised $890 million, and became the largest Israeli IPO in U.S. history. By the end of the year, Mobileye's technology was implemented in 160 car models made by 18 different OEMs.
In 2017, Mobileye unveiled a mathematical model for safe self-driving cars based on a research paper by CEO Amnon Shashua and VP of Technology Shai Shalev-Shwartz. The paper outlines a system called Responsibility-Sensitive Safety (RSS) which redefines fault and caution and could potentially be used to inform insurance policies and driving laws. Shai Shalev-Shwartz was promoted to CTO in 2019.
In March 2017, Intel announced that it would be acquiring Mobileye for $15.3 billion — the biggest-ever acquisition of an Israeli tech company. Following the acquisition, Reuters reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had charged two Israelis, Ariel Darvasi and Amir Waldman, with engaging in insider trading prior to the announcement of the acquisition of Mobileye by Intel. Both had connections to Mobileye through the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where Mobileye's technology was first developed. Also, the SEC obtained an emergency court order, freezing certain assets of Virginia residents Lawrence F. Cluff, Jr. and Roger E. Shaoul who allegedly used insider information to make approximately $1 million on Intel's purchase of Mobileye. Neither Intel nor Mobileye were accused by the SEC of violating the law.
In October 2018, Mobileye and Volkswagen released plans to commercialize Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) in Israel. Mobileye began "robotaxi" trials with Nio electric vehicles in Israel in May 2020 due to a delay in the arrival of Volkswagen minivans, and unveiled its new production-ready robotaxi in 2021 at the IAA Mobility show in Munich.
Mobileye demonstrated an autonomous car equipped only with cameras on the streets of Jerusalem in January 2020, later testing the cars in Munich and New York City.
In December 2021, Intel announced its plan to take Mobileye automotive unit public via an IPO of newly issued stock in 2022, maintaining its majority ownership of the company. In October 2022, Intel offered 5–6% of outstanding shares raising $861million by selling 41million shares, valuing Mobileye at around $17billionmore than what it originally paid in 2017. Intel continued to hold all of Mobileye's Class B shares, giving itself an overall 99.4% of voting power. Mobileye picked the same stock ticker it used prior to the acquisitionMBLYbut on the Nasdaq.