The following is a summary of the keynote speech given by Intel CEO Brian Krzanich at 'AutoMobility LA', an event held in conjunction with the LA Auto Show on the 15th (US time), which included new investment plans in the autonomous driving sector.

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich

The world today runs on oil. It heats and cools our homes, and powers almost every type of transportation. If you were to drive a non-oil-based vehicle, you would have a hard time driving long distances. Without oil, your car engine would overheat, pistons and rings would melt against the cylinder walls, and engine blocks would break. . So oil is the core technology that makes the automotive world we know possible today. But now, everything is starting to change.

Especially in the future of cars and autonomous vehicles, data has literally become the new oil. Data has the potential to radically change the way we think about our automotive driving experiences as consumers, as automakers, as technologists, and as citizens.

One of the most radical transformational trends I see as a technology professional is that virtually every industry is experiencing a massive data deluge due to the proliferation of smart, connected devices.

If we look more closely, we are currently living in a world overflowing with data. However, compared to the future, the amount of data today is relatively small. In 2016, the average person creates 650MB of data a day across their PCs, mobile phones, and wearable devices.

By 2020, that number is expected to reach 1.5GB per day—a staggering 200% increase in less than four years. And yet, that growth pales in comparison to the changes already underway in autonomous vehicles.

In autonomous vehicles, we need to consider components such as cameras, radar, sonar, GPS, and LIDAR (laser-based object recognition technology). These are key to the new way pistons, rings, and engine blocks are driven. Cameras will operate at 20 to 60 MB of data per second, radar at 10 KB per second, sonar at 10 to 100 KB per second, GPS at 50 KB per second, and LIDAR at 10 to 70 MB per second. Therefore, each autonomous vehicle will generate about 4,000 GB, or 4 terabytes of data per day.

That means that one autonomous vehicle will generate the same amount of data as nearly 3,000 people. Let’s take a closer look at how many cars are on the road and make a deeper estimate. Even if we assume that there are just 1 million autonomous vehicles on the road worldwide, that means that autonomous vehicles will generate the same amount of data as 3 billion people.

Just as oil transformed the world over the past century, data is poised to transform the world for centuries to come, and beyond. And the automotive ecosystem has the opportunity to leverage data to drive insights, create new business opportunities, and create a safer, less contentious world. Let’s look at three types of valuable data that autonomous driving will create.

First and most obvious is the technical data, or “inside-out” data. This comes from sensors in the car that can tell the difference between a child and an animal, a fallen branch and a traffic cone, and it also drives decisions about the car’s movements and external events. This data requires a huge amount of computing power, and having the best data will allow anyone to develop the best AI tools, such as machine learning, deep learning algorithms, and data analytics.

The second is social data, or 'outside-in' data, obtained from various sources. Vehicle-related data such as traffic information influences the car's movement from point A to point B, or its course change to point C. The Waze app (traffic congestion information app) is a good example of outside-in data today. Having this data will enable the development of the best applications.

Finally, personal data. This can be used to determine how many people are in the car, what music each passenger prefers, or even analyze the brands or stores that passengers prefer, and provide relevant information when the car is approaching. Wearables and other sensors in the car can also monitor the behavior, interests, emotions, and body cycles of passengers, further enhancing safety and security. Utilizing this personal data will enable the development and delivery of the best user experience.

Data is clearly the new normal in the automotive world, but simply acquiring data isn’t enough. We need to maximize the value of data by turning it into actionable sets of insights. And that requires end-to-end computing solutions that span the car, network, cloud, and powerful connectivity.

Intel will accelerate the implementation of autonomous driving and end-to-end solutions by strengthening collaboration with partners across the industry and globally for future driving, and lead the transformation of next-generation computing. Thanks to the broad and unique technology portfolio developed through acquisition and innovation, only Intel in the industry can realize the synergy of next-generation computing through such collaboration.

The automotive ecosystem currently faces three challenges related to data: massive data sets, intelligence development cycles for data processing, and security. To overcome these challenges, automakers and suppliers must achieve scalability, which means they must collaborate, share, and learn from each other without compromising their respective territories.

Intel Capital announced an additional new investment of more than $250 million over the next two years to enable fully autonomous driving. Going forward, Intel will focus on providing end-to-end solutions that can extract insights and create value from data. Through this, Intel will become a trusted partner to realize fully autonomous driving and take the lead in using data to improve safety, mobility, and efficiency.