Commentary

Intel Invests $250 Million To Advance Connected Cars

Autonomous cars are about data and content, and both are coming on strong.

Most consumers may not be waiting in line to buy an autonomous car but that doesn’t mean a lot of money isn’t flowing into the development of them.

The latest financial boost is coming from Intel, to the tune of $250 million, according to Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, who announced the spend at the AutoMobility show in Los Angeles yesterday as well as in a blog post.

However, the focus of the investment is not on actual cars but rather on the data that will be generated from connected vehicles.

“As a technologist, one of the trends I see as most disruptive to almost every industry is the enormous flood of data driven by the proliferation of smart, connected devices,” Krzanich said.

He estimates that every autonomous car will generate the data equivalent of about 3,000 people.

Put another way, each vehicle will be generating 4,000 gigabytes (4 terabytes) of data a day, combining it from cameras, GPS, sonar and radar.

Key for marketers is personal data.

Intel notes that there will be data that tracks how many people are in the car, music preferences of each passenger or even what stores or brands passengers prefer and, when they are near them, tee up sale items.

“Wearables and other sensors inside the car can also monitor behavior, focus, emotional and biometric status to increase safety and security,” says Krzanich. “Whoever has the most personal data will be able to develop and deliver the best user experience.”

There are three challenges around data, according to Krzanich. There’s the size of data sets, the intelligence cycle needed to process the data and then, of course, security.

Intel views data as the new currency of the automotive world.

And now they’re putting up $250 million in real currency to help drive that world forward.

2 comments about "Intel Invests $250 Million To Advance Connected Cars".
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  1. R MARK REASBECK from www.USAonly.US , November 17, 2016 at 12:36 p.m.

    Whoever has the most personal data will be able to develop and deliver the best user experience"



    Here is the experience I'm looking for:  I get in my car, turn the key, I here the snap of my V-8 GAS engine come to life.  There is no annoying TV screen on my dash board telling me my lettuce crisper is 2 degrees too warm, my garage door opener is on the sun visor, and where it has  worked EVERY TIME.  If my kid left his bike  in the driveway, and it gets run over, then he learns a valuable lesson about taking care of his things.  I pull out into the street, I have no annoying side-kick talking through my radio with distracting ads and other useless info like facebook alerts, and I actually have to be aware of my surroundings, always on alert for the useless autonomous cars next to me concerned how long the $10 plastic sensors will misinterpret road conditions and weave into my lane.  I ride to my destination in a car I share doghair with no one and can come and go as I please.  My car is never stuck at the dealer with a "patch" for the billions of bits of informatioin that just got re-routed by a hacker.  And the amazing thing is that I do not know one person who wants an autonomous car, regardless of age.   I hope I live long enough to hear at least one press conference where they say" this was a very expensive experiment that went bad."  I call it "Amtrack II" because they can't even keep trains from smashing into eachother and they are on the same track.   Dumbest idea of the 21st Century  hands down.   Opps, gotta go , my lettuce crisper is in melt down mode !!

  2. Chuck Martin from Chuck Martin replied, November 17, 2016 at 12:46 p.m.

    Clever, Mark. None of this is going to happen overnight.

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