Mobileye to expand driverless taxi trial in Israel by 2020

Intel’s subsidiary Mobileye is reportedly planning to launch a driverless taxi trial in Israel by next year.

Intel and Mobileye CEO Bob Swan used a driverless taxi through a crowded street in Jerusalem recently to showcase the technology being developed by the company, reported Bloomberg.

During the test drive, the driverless taxi successfully negotiated traffic, ramps, and roundabouts.

Swan told the publication: “The most impressive thing is to just to see how far they have come in each one of the successive drives that I have gone on over the last two years.”

This was his third ride in a robo-cab.

Intel announced the acquisition of Mobileye in August 2017 for $15.3bn. It revealed last October that Mobileye is working to launch a robotaxi service in collaboration with Volkswagen and Champion Motor Group.

Mobileye has been developing vision-based advanced driver-assistance systems, which can recognise road hazards for autonomous vehicles.

Swan told the publication that the company will first launch the autonomous ride-hailing service in Israel, and then roll out the vehicle worldwide.

Many tech companies and car manufacturers are investing billions of dollars in self-driving vehicles, including Waymo.

Separately, Intel is set to introduce a 20-week programme known as Ignite. This is intended to help early stage startups working on machine learning intelligence and autonomous system technologies in Israel.

Ignite is expected to begin operations later this year in partnership with nearly 15 hardware, software and services firms.