What’s at stake:
After shedding Mobileye, Intel has searched its soul to intuit how it can make a difference in a congested automotive chip market. Rather than shoving more teraflops into a car’s central compute technology, Intel believes its new mission is addressing unanswered questions with which carmakers are grappling — safer, software-defined vehicle architecture, much more energy efficient EVs and the dawn of the chiplet. With no quick fixes possible, is Intel ready to play the long game?
Twenty-five years ago, when Microsoft at CES pitched a plan to wedge its operating system and PC technology into the living room, TV set manufacturers wept crocodile tears for consumers. “The last thing we want,” CE companies said, is “the blue screen of death on their living room TVs.”
Fast forward to 2024. Intel Corp. slouches toward CES, unveiling its all-out plans for the automotive market. Will this moment in history become yet another example of the PC industry horning in on somebody else’s business?
Not necessarily.