When Intel Corp. CEO Pat Gelsinger recently announced Intel’s plans for a public offering of Mobileye in 2022, it was an implicit admission of a corporate mismatch that was already obvious to many electronics industry observers.
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger (right) and Professor Amnon Shashua, Intel senior vice president and president and CEO of Mobileye, talk during Gelsinger’s visit to Mobileye headquarters in Israel in 2021. (Credit: Mobileye, an Intel Company)
What’s at stake?
Intel acquired Mobileye in 2017 — nearly a year into the two companies’ joint AV development partnership with BMW — with great expectations for the autonomous-vehicle revolution. But a lot has changed in four years. Today, BMW is hitching a ride with Qualcomm on ADAS/AV development. Next year, Intel will take Mobileye public. At stake is whether Intel can chart an automotive roadmap for Intel-branded products, independent of its high-flying subsidiary.