Posts Tagged “Intel”

How the Death of ‘Content is King’ May Take On Godlike Proportions: Part 1

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How the Death of ‘Content is King’ May Take On Godlike Proportions: Part 1

To say I was “blown away” by a recent editorial in NoCamels.com by Yaniv Garty, General Manager of Intel Israel, is a frustatingly cliche due to the poverty of English usage as it exists today. And it wasn’t Garty’s predictions of what the world could look like by 2025 that captured and downright agitated my imagination (in a way I enjoyed). Sure, his IT prophecies are all plausible among numerous pundits, evangelists, and visionaries. Nope. It wasn’t that.

It was the data, specifically the vast quantities of data being generated, even right now. Consider these three incredible facts:

  1. Of all the data created since the beginning of civilization, 90 percent of it has been generated in the last 2 years.
  2. By 2025, total data will reach 163 zettabytes. You probably never heard of a zettabyte, and you may want to pause before you attempt to digest it. 163 zettabytes is 1,000 Billion terabytes. Even with the comparison, I still find it incomprehensible.
  3. Only 1 percent of all data has been accessed in any meaningful way.

Garty, who is charged with growing Intel’s hardware for IT ecosystem of the future, has a lot to think about, namely…

Artificial Intelligence (AI), and how it can begin to mine the 99 percent for, among other things, greater insights and predictive measures. Intel already has its eyes on the medical field with aspirations to provide tailor-made solutions for each patient, perhaps and beyond, like unique biological and genetic characteristics.


Learn more about Diane Israel. Also, see Diane Israel on LinkedIn.


Another good example is the interface between data and transportation: The potential of saving lives by lowering the number of accidents made possible with autonomous driving is incredible. But to reduce accidents we need a combination of technologies working together – from computer vision to end-computing, mapping, cloud, and of course AI. All these, in turn, require a systematic change in the way the industry views data-focused computing and technology.

My personal take is that the IT ecosystem of the future will more and more resemble the different executive and subordinate functions of the human brain with neuroscientists and computer scientists conspiring to construct the greatest monster even seen: one giant decentralized and interdependent mega-brain.

In the next segment of this series, we will consider the moral and religious implications of this almost godlike monstrosity.

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Intel Purchases Israel Tech Firm Moovit

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Intel Purchases Israel Tech Firm Moovit

US multinational Intel confirmed on Monday that it is acquiring Israeli mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) solutions company Moovit for approximately $900 million. The deal was first reported on Sunday by Israel business daily TheMarker which reported the acquisition value at $1 billion.

Intel previously led a $50 million investment in Moovit in 2018 and announced a partnership with Mobileye, the Jerusalem-based developer of driver assistance system acquired by Intel Corporation for $15.3 billion in 2017 in what is the biggest deal in Israeli high-tech history.


This article was originally posted by NoCamels.com. See Featured article: Artificial Intelligence.


Intel said in a statement on Monday that the acquisition of Moovit will bring Mobileye “closer to achieving its plan to become a complete mobility provider, including robotaxi services, which is forecast to be an estimated $160 billion opportunity by 2030.”

“With this acquisition, Mobileye will be able to use Moovit’s large proprietary transportation dataset to optimize predictive technologies based on customer demand and traffic patterns, as well as tap into Moovit’s transit data repository of more than 7,500 key transit agencies and operators, and improve the consumer experience for more than 800 million users worldwide,” Intel said.

Headquartered in Ness Ziona, Moovit was founded in 2012 by Nir Erez, Yaron Evron, and Roy Bick and developed the first free crowdsourced app that provides real-time bus, train, subway, and light rail schedules and offers route options to help users find the quickest, most efficient way to their destinations. In addition to its public transportation data features, Moovit’s mobility options are quite extensive and include ride-hailing companies, car-sharing companies, station-based bike-share systems, dockless bikes, scooters and Mopeds.

Today, Moovit has over 800 million users on its free mobile and web app, providing mobility options in 3,100 cities, 100 countries, and in 45 languages. The company also sells transit data analytics to municipalities and public transport operators through its Smart Transit Suite, a platform that provides real-time information on people’s movement, optimal routes, wait times, locations of buses and trains and other data for network managing. Moovit collects more than 6 billion data points daily about traffic flow and user demand.

Mobileye co-founder Professor Amnon Shashua, senior VP at Intel and a member of Moovit’s board of directors since 2018 said the company is a “critical piece to our mobility stack” and will accelerate “our way toward becoming a complete mobility provider.”

Mobileye has been developing self-driving technology and, earlier this year, announced two new partnerships for robotaxi-based mobility solutions powered by Mobileye’s autonomous vehicle technology, and an agreement with SAIC, a leading Chinese OEM to use Mobileye’s Road Experience Management (REM) mapping technology to prepare the country for autonomous vehicles.

Moovit “owns underlying assets and capabilities, which will give us the insight needed to turn on cost- and demand-optimized driverless mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) almost anywhere in the world,” Shashua wrote on Monday, explaining Intel’s strategy in acquiring the Israeli company.

By working together as part of Intel and Mobileye, Moovit will advance the company’s MaaS strategy and the global adoption of autonomous transportation, Intel said.

Moovit will join the Mobileye business while retaining its brand and existing partnerships, Intel indicated. Erez will join Mobileye’s executive team as an executive vice president.

“Intel’s purpose is to create world-changing technology that enriches the lives of every person on Earth, and our Mobileye team delivers on that purpose every day,” said Intel CEO Bob Swan. “Mobileye’s ADAS technology is already improving the safety of millions of cars on the road, and Moovit accelerates their ability to truly revolutionize transportation – reducing congestion and saving lives – as a full-stack mobility provider.”

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Intel Injects $75M Into Israeli Startup Habana Labs

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Intel Injects $75M Into Israeli Startup Habana Labs

This story was originally reported by NoCamels.com.


Habana Labs, an Israeli startup that develops AI processors, announced on Thursday that it has secured $75 million in a Series B funding led by Intel Capital, with participation from WRV Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Battery Ventures and existing investors.

Since it was founded in 2016, Habana Labs has raised a total of $120 million.

The new funding will go toward continued growth, including next-generation processors, sales, and customer support, said Habana Labs CEO David Dahan.


Related Story: Artificial Intelligence: Part 1.


“We are excited to invest in a dynamic team with a proven track record in the industry,” said Wendell Brooks, Senior Vice President of Intel Corporation and President of Intel Capital. “Habana Labs’ innovation and execution on their vision will help drive the next evolution of Artificial Intelligence.”

“AI brings a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a significant wave of new semiconductor companies, and venture firms are heavily investing in AI-focused chip startups”, said Lip-Bu Tan, Founding Partner of WRV Capital, a leading international venture firm focusing on semiconductors and related hardware, systems, and software. “Among all AI semiconductor startups, Habana Labs is the first, and still the only one, which introduced a production-ready AI processor. We are delighted to partner with Intel in backing Habana Labs’ products and its extraordinary team.”

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