Autonomous driving technology giant Mobileye announced on Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas that it will acquire humanoid robot startup Mentee Robotics for about $900 million. This move marks Mobileye's official expansion beyond the automotive industry, entering the "Mobileye 3.0 era" as defined by CEO Amnon Shashua.

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Key Transaction: Premium Acquisition and Related Party Avoidance

According to the agreement, Mobileye will pay $612 million in cash and up to 26.2 million common shares. Mentee Robotics was founded by Shashua in 2022. To ensure procedural compliance, Shashua, who is both a founder and major shareholder of both companies, has recused himself from the board's approval of this transaction. The deal has been approved by major shareholder Intel and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2026.

Strategic Intent: From "Vehicle Navigation" to "Physical Interaction"

After the acquisition, Mentee Robotics will operate as an independent department. Mobileye aims to combine Mentee's humanoid robot technology with its own autonomous driving experience to enter the field of **Physical AI**.

  • Technical Synergy: Combining Mobileye's AI training infrastructure with Mentee's robotic advancements.

  • Target Vision: Developing systems that can understand context and intent and interact naturally with humans and the physical world.

  • Financial Support: Mobileye revealed that its expected revenue from the automotive business over the next eight years will reach $24.5 billion, a 40% increase from the same period last year, providing solid financial support for expensive robot development.

Current Business: Core Business of ZhiJia Continues to Explode

At the time of the acquisition announcement, Mobileye's core chip business also reported good news:

  • Major Order Completed: A global top ten automaker has ordered 9 million units of the Surround ADAS system based on the EyeQ6H chip.

  • Market Expectation: After the collaboration with the Volkswagen Group in March, Mobileye expects the total future delivery volume of the EyeQ6H chip system to exceed 19 million units.

Shashua said that this merger will give Mobileye a unique opportunity to lead the evolution of physical AI in the fields of robotics and autonomous vehicles worldwide.