Intel, BMW, Mobileye, and others to collaborate until 2021
Building an open platform for next-generation automotive, from vehicles to data centers.

Intel, BMW Group, and Mobileye are joining forces to develop self-driving cars and make future mobility concepts a reality.

These three companies, leaders in the automotive, computer vision and technology, and machine learning industries, have joined forces to develop solutions that will enable commercialization of highly autonomous driving by 2021.

The future of automated driving promises to significantly improve our lives and society. However, the path to a fully autonomous world is complex and requires end-to-end solutions that integrate intelligence across the entire network, from vehicle door locks to data centers. Transportation service providers of the future must effectively leverage rapidly evolving technologies, collaborate with entirely new partners, and be prepared for disruptive innovation opportunities.



Intel, BMW, and Mobileye will jointly develop the solutions and innovative systems needed to commercialize fully autonomous driving by 2021. The BMW iNEXT model will be the cornerstone of the BMW Group's autonomous driving strategy and lay the foundation for fully autonomous vehicle operation, enabling autonomous driving on highways as well as automated ride-sharing solutions in urban environments.

The three companies believe that automated driving technology will make travel safer and easier. The goal of this collaboration is to develop future-ready solutions that not only eliminate the need for drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel, but also move beyond Level 3 (eyes off) to the ultimate level (mind off) where they don't need to think about driving at all, freeing them to use their driving time for leisure or work. This level of autonomy will technically enable the final step (Level 5) of driverless vehicles. This opens the door to autonomous driving by 2021 and lays the foundation for entirely new business models in a connected, mobile world.

These three companies gathered at BMW Group headquarters in Munich, Germany, on the 1st to pledge to actively pursue industry standardization and define an open platform for autonomous driving. The joint platform will address Level 3 to Level 5 autonomous driving challenges and will be available to various automakers and other industries that can benefit from autonomous devices and deep machine learning.

The three companies have already agreed on a set of deliverables and milestones to deliver a fully autonomous vehicle based on a common reference architecture. In the near future, the three companies plan to demonstrate autonomous driving testing with a highly automated driving (HAD) prototype. Furthermore, in 2017, the platform will be expanded to operate multiple autonomous vehicles based on scalable autonomous driving testing.

Intel offers a comprehensive portfolio of technologies needed to power and connect hundreds of millions of smart, connected devices, including automobiles. Intel will deliver powerful computing performance that scales from Intel® Atom™ to Intel® Xeon™ processors, up to a total of 100 teraflops (trillion operations per second) of power-efficient performance without the need to rewrite code, to handle the complex workloads required by autonomous vehicles in urban environments.

Through its Strategy Number One > Next, the BMW Group has developed its own framework to continue to lead the way in premium individual mobility. This approach will be realized in 2021 with the BMW iNEXT model, marking a new chapter in mobility, the company said.