Intel (INTC) Announces Plan To Build Self-Driving Cars

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) has become the latest tech company to announce plans to build self-driving cars as it tries to stay ahead of competition from Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) .

Intel plans to build 100 cars to test its self-driving technology. The cars will be “level 4” vehicles, which means they will be able to handle most driving situations themselves. They will be tested in the U.S., Israel, and Europe.

These new cars will include technology from the Israeli tech company Mobileye (NYSE:MBLY) , which is the world’s largest supplier of systems used in automotive collision detection systems. As of yesterday, Intel has officially completed its acquisition of 84% of Mobileye for $15.3 billion. Intel has also offered to buy out the remaining shares of Mobileye before the company delists its shares.

Intel’s acquisition of Mobileye will help it compete with Qualcomm in the coming months. The smartphone chip maker is also trying to complete an acquisition for the auto chips maker NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI) for $38 billion.

Intel will also be competing with companies such as Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Waymo, the carmaker General Motors (NYSE:GM) , and the ride-hailing companies Lyft and Uber that are developing autonomous driving technology as well.

This 100 car project will not replace Intel’s current autonomous driving lab, which builds self-driving car systems for companies like BMW BAMXF and Delphi (NYSE:DLPH) . “Our customers will benefit from our ability to use this fleet to accelerate our technology development,” Shashua said. “We want to automakers to deliver driverless cars faster while reducing costs.”

The first vehicles should be completed by the end of the year, and all 100 cars will be deployed in 2018. Intel plans on having a fully developed package available for sale to automakers for vehicle integration by 2019.

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