The Israeli company Mobileye , known for its advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous driving technologies, has taken a significant step by closing a deal to acquire the humanoid robotics startup Mentee Robotics for approximately $900 million. This move positions the firm, with a strong presence in Europe and collaborations with manufacturers like Volkswagen, at the heart of the race for physical artificial intelligence.
The deal, announced at CES in Las Vegas , reinforces the convergence between the automotive and robotics industries, two sectors that share key technologies such as advanced sensors, environmental perception, and automated decision-making. Interest in bipedal humanoid robots is growing globally, with particular attention focused on their potential to work in existing European warehouses, factories, and other industrial environments, where they can help offset labor shortages and improve productivity.
How will Mobileye's acquisition of Mentee work?
The agreement stipulates that Mobileye will pay approximately $612 million in cash and complete the transaction with up to 26,2 million shares of its own common stock, for a total value of nearly $900 million. The mixed structure, combining cash and stock, reflects the intention to integrate Mentee into Mobileye's long-term operations.
According to information provided by the company, the transaction has already received approval from the Mobileye board of directors and also from Intel, its main shareholder with approximately 23% of the capital. Customary closing conditions remain, but the acquisition is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2026 , a key date in the group's strategic calendar.
Once the acquisition is finalized, Mentee Robotics will continue to operate as an independent unit within Mobileye, at least in this initial phase. The idea is for it to retain its startup agility while leveraging Mobileye's existing infrastructure, financial resources, and powerful AI training capabilities . This combination of flexibility and industrial strength is one of the key factors emphasized in the sector.
From a financial perspective, the company itself has indicated that the acquisition will moderately increase Mobileye's operating expenses starting in 2026 , by a low, single-digit percentage. In other words, it will represent a significant investment, but one that the company considers manageable within its project portfolio and the revenue volume projected for the coming years.
In parallel, Mobileye maintains an estimated $24.500 billion automotive revenue pipeline for the next eight years, supported by its advanced driver assistance and autonomous solutions. This automotive business base is what, in theory, will allow it to finance and sustain its foray into humanoid robotics without compromising the group's stability, both in the United States and in Europe.
From autonomous driving to physical artificial intelligence
The acquisition of Mentee is part of what its co-founder and president, Amnon Shashua , has dubbed “Mobileye 3.0 ,” a new phase that seeks to go beyond driver assistance systems and vehicle autonomy to delve into humanoid robotics and AI applied to the physical world. In the executive's words, it represents “a new chapter for automotive robotics and AI.”
Mobileye has made a name for itself supplying major automakers with millions of computer vision chips and software for safety and ADAS features. The leap to bipedal robots involves leveraging those same perception and decision-making capabilities in a much more varied environment, where robots must understand context, people's intentions, and act naturally in spaces shared with humans.
In this sense, the company defines the operation as a decisive step towards “physical artificial intelligence ,” a concept that encompasses systems capable of interacting with real objects, moving in complex environments, and performing diverse tasks without the need to redesign buildings, factories, or warehouses. For Europe, with its already established industrial base, this approach is particularly interesting: instead of redesigning infrastructure from scratch, the goal is for the robot to adapt to the existing human environment.
The acquisition of Mentee also reflects a global trend involving companies like Tesla, Figure AI, Agility Robotics , and several Chinese startups, all competing to develop humanoid robots capable of performing a wide variety of tasks . In Tesla's case, CEO Elon Musk has even stated that these robots could become the company's main line of business in the long term, demonstrating the extent to which the market perceives the sector's economic potential.
For Mobileye, the strategy isn't so much about abandoning the automobile as it is about extending its expertise in autonomy to new areas: autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots would share the same technological base of sensors, maps, computer vision , and decision-making algorithms, leveraging economies of scale and development synergies. In this way, the leap into robotics is seen as a natural evolution rather than a radical shift.
Who is Mentee Robotics and what does it bring to Mobileye?
One of the most striking elements of their proposal is a demonstration-based learning approach : according to the company itself, its technology allows a single human demonstration to be transformed into millions of virtual repetitions , reducing the need to collect large volumes of real-world data. This type of massive simulation lowers costs, shortens training times, and makes it easier to test complex scenarios without exposing oneself to physical risks.
Before the agreement with Mobileye, Mentee had attracted the attention of several prominent investors. In March, it closed a funding round of approximately $21 million , with participation from venture capital funds such as Cisco and Samsung . That round valued the company at around $162 million, according to PitchBook data, still far from the figures now committed to the acquisition.
Mentee's trajectory illustrates the dynamism of Israel's deeptech startup ecosystem , with regular connections to Europe and the United States. The relatively young company has operated in a highly competitive but high-potential segment focused on robots capable of moving on two legs, manipulating objects, and adapting to different scenarios without requiring facility redesign.
From a technological standpoint, the integration with Mobileye will allow Mentee to leverage high-performance computing infrastructure , especially for training AI models on a large scale. This access to computing resources, which is often a major barrier for startups, could accelerate the development of advanced prototypes and shorten the time to market.
Planned schedule: testing in 2026 and production in 2028
Beyond the signing of the agreement, one of the aspects generating the most interest in the market is the technology deployment timeline . As both parties have explained, the plan involves launching the first pilot projects and proof-of-concept trials with clients in 2026. These pilots will serve to validate the capabilities of the humanoid robots in real-world environments, both in terms of performance and safety.
If these initial stages progress as planned, mass production and wider commercialization would begin around 2028. While priority sectors and regions have not yet been determined, Europe is widely expected to be a key market due to its industrial base, the pressure to improve productivity, and the growing labor shortage in certain sectors.
This timeframe aligns with Mobileye's vision of harnessing the next wave of growth in AI embedded in the physical world , in parallel with the deployment of increasingly automated vehicles. The goal is to reach 2028 with a portfolio of solutions that combines everything from autonomous driving platforms to humanoid robots, all supported by shared data infrastructure and AI training.
However, companies have acknowledged that this is a complex and costly process , requiring significant investment and intensive engineering work, safety certification, and adaptation to local regulations. In the European case, this will involve complying with EU and national regulations related to robotics, data protection, and workplace safety, among other aspects.
For industrial and logistics companies in Spain and the rest of Europe, these timelines offer some leeway to assess how to integrate humanoid robotics into their automation plans . Some sectors might choose to initiate early pilot collaborations, while others might wait for the technology to mature and the costs of the first commercial models to decrease.
Market reactions and impact on the European ecosystem
Following the announcement, the market reacted with a nearly 6% increase in Mobileye's shares , demonstrating that investors have welcomed the company's focus on humanoid robotics and diversification beyond the automotive sector. While this initial stock market reaction doesn't guarantee long-term success, it does reflect the growing expectations surrounding physical AI as a new engine of growth.
The move also sends a signal to the European tech startup ecosystem , especially those focused on robotics, machine vision, sensors, and control software. The acquisition of Mentee for a price significantly higher than its last private valuation confirms that major international players are willing to pay substantial premiums for differentiated technologies and high-potential equipment.
For venture capital funds and entrepreneurs in Europe, Mobileye's deal serves as a benchmark for how humanoid robotics projects are moving from science fiction to strategic opportunities. In particular, it underscores the importance of combining advancements in hardware, AI algorithms, and business models capable of justifying the necessary R&D investment.
Meanwhile, companies like Tesla, Figure AI, and Agility Robotics continue to develop their own bipedal robots, and several Chinese startups have joined the race with increasingly sophisticated prototypes. This global competition may accelerate innovation, but it also puts pressure on European companies not to fall behind in a field that could reshape industry and services in the next decade.
In this context, Mobileye's presence in Europe, through agreements with car manufacturers and potential future robotics projects in factories and logistics centers across the continent, could have a driving effect on European suppliers, research centers, and technology partners , including those in Spain. The arrival of humanoid robot pilots at EU facilities would be a significant step toward assessing their actual integration into the value chain.
Governance, conflicts of interest, and Intel's role
One of the most sensitive aspects of the deal is the role of Amnon Shashua , who, in addition to being co-founder and president of Mobileye, is also a significant shareholder and president of Mentee Robotics . This dual role could raise concerns about potential conflicts of interest in the negotiation of the purchase agreement.
To address this issue, Mobileye emphasized that Shashua abstained from participating in the board's deliberation and approval of the transaction . In other words, he formally recused himself, so the remaining board members, along with Intel's representatives, evaluated the agreement without his direct involvement. This practice falls within standard corporate governance practices for related-party transactions.
Furthermore, the fact that Intel remains Mobileye's largest shareholder , with a stake of approximately 23%, adds an extra layer of oversight. The American multinational, which previously spun off its computer vision division RealSense to accelerate its exposure to the robotics sector, has approved the deal, suggesting it sees a strategic fit between the company's focus on physical AI and its future vision.
Strengthening these governance mechanisms is especially relevant in a market as dynamic as humanoid robotics, where the value of technologies is difficult to estimate and the risk of overpaying for early-stage assets is high. Transparency in the process, in theory, helps to build trust among shareholders and other stakeholders, including European industrial partners who wish to collaborate with Mobileye.
Taken together, Intel's participation, Shashua's recusal, and the board's approval are presented as guarantees that the operation has been evaluated not only from a technological perspective, but also from a financial and internal control perspective , aspects that the market scrutinizes when acquisitions of this size are announced in emerging sectors.
With all this activity, Mobileye is positioning itself as one of the key players aiming to lead the transition from autonomous driving to a more mature and scalable humanoid robotics system —an area where Europe could play a significant role both as an adoption market and in the development of complementary solutions. The coming years will be crucial in determining whether the announced plans translate into robots working side-by-side with people in factories, warehouses, and other everyday environments, both in Spain and across the continent.
