Delphi Automotive Plc and Mobieye NV to use Intel chips in self-driving vehicles

Auto parts maker Delphi Automotive Plc and Israeli technology firm Mobileye NV will use Intel Corp chips to power their self-driving vehicles by 2019, the companies said today.

The move comes as a boost for the world's largest semiconductor maker, which was also working with German luxury car maker BMW AG and Mobileye on self-driving technology, but had failed to carry its domination of the broader chip to the fast-emerging autonomous vehicle market.

Companies from Alphabet Inc's Google to Uber Technologies Inc and Tesla Motors Inc are racing to put autonomous vehicles on US roads, which could radically reshape transportation across the country.

Intel will provide a "system on chip" for autonomous vehicle systems that Delphi and Mobileye were developing together, Glen De Vos, Delphi's vice president of engineering, told Reuters.

UK-based Delphi is in talks with automakers and new or niche vehicle companies, including manufacturers of commercial vehicles, interested in automating vehicles, De Vos added.

The system Delphi and Mobileye were developing would hit the market first in a commercial vehicle with limited area of operation such as an airport shuttle or a ride-hailing service, DeVos said.

According to Delphi, Intel's added computing capacity would be needed as autonomous-car systems gathered and stored  more and more information while expanding their ability to deal with situations on real roads. 

Intel Corp would supply Delphi with high-capacity computers needed for processing input from radar, cameras and laser sensors as also maps of roadside landmarks.

De Vos said, the Intel deal gave the company everything it needed to develop an autonomous-driving package to sell to automakers. 

Delphi made its own radar and laser sensors and used Mobileye's cameras and software. It also relied on Ottomatica, a spinoff from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, to develop artificial intelligence for autonomous cars.