Israel-based Mobileye, best known for systems aimed at self-driving automobiles, is taking a step into humanoid robots with the acquisition of Israeli start-up Mentee Robotics for $900 million (£666m).
The acquisition provides Mobileye with an opportunity to push the evolution of “physical AI across robotics and autonomous vehicles”, said Mobileye co-founder and president Amnon Shashua, who also co-founded Mentee in 2022.
The deal, announced at the CES trade show in Las Vegas, mirrors other developments in the robotics sector, where car manufacturing is seen as a key use case for humanoid robots.
‘Physical AI’
Mobileye is to pay about $612m in cash and up to 26.2 million shares of Mobileye common stock in the transaction.
As Shashua is the chairman, co-founder and significant shareholder of Mentee, he recused himself from the buyout decision, which was approved by the Mobileye board and Intel, its largest shareholder.
The deal, expected to conclude in the first quarter of this year, will see Mentee continue to operate independently for at least two years, while giving it access to Mobileye’s customer base of the world’s biggest automakers.
Car manufacturing
Companies including Mercedes and Hyundai are planning to trial humanoid robots in their manufacturing operations, seen as a way of applying AI technology to physical tasks.
Earlier at CES, Hyundai said it plans to mass-produce Atlas, a humanoid robot developed by its subsidiary Boston Dynamics, and to deploy the machine in its factories starting in 2028.
