Intel to Acquire Silicon Mobility, CES 2024

Intel is to acquire Silicon Mobility, a French startup developing automotive chips and software for electric vehicles (EVs), as part of a push to “drive the company’s AI everywhere strategy.”

According to Intel, Silicon Mobility’s technology portfolio will expand its reach in the automotive market beyond high-performance compute into “intelligent and programmable power devices.”

The announcement was made at CES in Las Vegas, alongside Intel’s launch of a new family of AI-enhanced, software-defined vehicle system-on-chips (SoCs) to create “next-generation vehicles.”

Intel said the new SoC range is designed to address industry demand for power and performance scalability, featuring AI acceleration capabilities to enable in-vehicle AI use cases such as driver and passenger monitoring.

During a demonstration at CES, Intel showcased 12 advanced workloads using the SoCs, including generative AI, electronic mirrors, high-definition video calling, and PC games.

Chinese carmaker Zeekr has been confirmed as the first original equipment manufacturer to adopt Intel’s new SoCs into their vehicles. 

“Intel is taking a ‘whole vehicle’ approach to solving the industry’s biggest challenges,” said Jack Weast, Intel Automotive’s vice president. “Driving innovative AI solutions across the vehicle platform will help the industry navigate the transformation to EVs.

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“The acquisition of Silicon Mobility aligns with our sustainability goals while addressing a critical energy management need for the industry.”

Intel will also chair a new industry-defining international standard for EV power management.

“Today, Intel SoCs are in more than 50 million vehicles, powering infotainment, displays, digital instrument clusters and more,” a company statement said. “Tomorrow, Intel’s expanded AI-enhanced ‘whole vehicle’ road map will move the industry toward a more scalable, software-defined and sustainable future.”