According to an article by Business Insider, the world’s biggest chipmaker, Intel, recently announced it has been working with Alphabet’s Waymo self-driving unit, stating that the company had collaborated with Waymo during the design of its compute platform to allow autonomous cars the ability to process information in real time.
The Intel-based technologies for sensor processing, general compute and connectivity have been part of the Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivans, which has been used by Waymo to test its self-driving system since 2015 .
“As Waymo’s self-driving technology becomes smarter and more capable, its high-performance hardware and software will require even more powerful and efficient compute,” said Intel Chief Executive Brian Krzanich.
Intel, which acquired the $15 billion autonomous vision company Mobileye in March, is pushing to expand into the fast-growing autonomous vehicles market, and many industry experts see the collaboration with Waymo as a significant addition to its portfolio.
Thus far, Waymo has conducted most of its development work in-house, making this announcement the first time the company has acknowledged a collaboration with a supplier
Intel began supplying chips to Waymo while it was still under Google’s umbrella, in 2009, when the company began its autonomous program, and that relationship grew into a deeper collaboration when Google began working with Fiat Chrysler developing and installing the company’s autonomous driving technology into the automaker’s minivans.
Waymo does not use the autonomous vision system created by Mobileye, as the company has developed its own sensors.
Mobileye and Intel are in an alliance with German automaker BMW and Fiat-Chrysler to create an industry-wide autonomous car platform.
Waymo CEO John Krafcik said in a statement, “Intel’s technology supports the advanced processing inside our vehicles, with the ability to manufacture to meet Waymo’s needs at scale.”
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