Intel Takes Stake In HERE – Betting On Driverless Cars Future

Chipmaker Intel announced it has acquired a 15 percent take in HERE, a global provider of digital maps and location-based services. The purchase came from HERE’s current indirect shareholders: Audi, BMW and Daimler, Intel said in a press release.

In conjunction with the stake purchase, Intel said the two companies inked a deal to collaborate on the research and development of a highly scalable proof-of-concept architecture that supports real-time updates of high-definition maps for full automated driving. Additionally, the two companies plan to jointly explore strategic opportunities that result from giving edge-computing devices location data.

“Cars are rapidly becoming some of the world’s most intelligent, connected devices,” said Brian Krzanich, Intel CEO, in the press release announcing the deal. “We look forward to working with HERE and its automotive partners to deliver an important technology foundation for smart and connected cars of the future.”

“A real-time, self-healing and high-definition representation of the physical world is critical for autonomous driving, and achieving this will require significantly more powerful and capable in-vehicle compute platforms,” Edzard Overbeek, HERE CEO, added in the same press release. “As a premier silicon provider, Intel can help accelerate HERE’s ambitions in this area by supporting the creation of a universal, always up-to-date digital location platform that spans the vehicle, the cloud and everything else connected.”

The proof-of-concept architecture HERE and Intel plan to deliver will be designed to help make autonomous driving as safe and predictable as possible. Intel said next-generation HD mapping can pinpoint locations to within centimeters. This will help vehicles precisely position themselves on the roadway to enable reliable autonomous driving functionality, Intel said. Intel will also work with Audi, BMW and Daimler to test the architecture. Intel and HERE envision making the architecture broadly available across the automotive industry, the chipmaker said.