BMW, Intel, and Mobileye partner to test 40 autonomous vehicles in urban areas starting in second half of 2017, with aim of fully autonomous cars by 2021
40 test sedans to operate in cities in U.S. and Europe — BMW, Mobileye urge industry alignment on common architecture
Context & Ripple Effects
This announcement confirms what Bloomberg reported six months earlier: that BMW, Intel, and Mobileye were quietly working together on autonomous car technology. What was a sourcing story is now a formal alliance with a fleet size, a geography, and a deadline — 40 test sedans in U.S. and European cities starting in the second half of 2017, aimed at fully autonomous cars by 2021.
The trio is also using the announcement to lobby the rest of the industry toward a common architecture, positioning their stack as a candidate standard rather than a proprietary bet. That framing matters because Intel had already signaled it wanted more than a chip supplier role in this market.
First-order effects
- BMW gets an accelerated path to its stated 2021 autonomy goal by pairing Mobileye's perception software with Intel's compute, while the three partners begin real-world urban testing across two continents within months of the deal.
Second-order effects
- Rival automakers face pressure to join or counter the alliance rather than build alone — and indeed Fiat Chrysler joined the same partnership later that year (Fiat Chrysler says it has joined BMW's autonomous car partnership). Intel, meanwhile, doubled down by closing its Mobileye acquisition and committing to a larger fleet of 100 fully autonomous Level 4 cars, scaling well past the original 40-vehicle program.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, autonomy consolidates around shared platforms instead of per-OEM stacks: the alliance's architecture becomes infrastructure other carmakers license into, and Mobileye's footprint expands from passenger-car pilots in Tokyo, Shanghai, and Paris (Mobileye announces pilot programs in Tokyo, Shanghai, and Paris) into commercial delivery fleets built with Udelv.
The trend: Autonomous driving is consolidating into multi-party platform alliances where a chipmaker, a perception-software supplier, and several automakers share one stack — with fleet sizes and geographies expanding steadily from test cars toward commercial services.