BMW, Intel and Mobileye are reportedly about to unveil a new partnership for self-driving cars

Just a few weeks after we learned that BMW is putting its electric vehicle programs on the “back burner” in order to focus its ‘i’ brand, under which the German automaker has been releasing its electric vehicles, on self-driving cars instead. We now learn that the automaker is reportedly about to announce an important partnership with Intel and Mobileye to develop its self-driving cars.

Reuters report that an announcement will be made tomorrow:

“BMW is set to announce an alliance to develop self-driving cars with collision detection specialist Mobileye and computer chip maker Intel, a source familiar with the matter said, as the race to put driverless cars on the road heats up.

The tie-up is likely to focus on technology being developed by Mobileye to give computer-driven vehicles better reflexes without driver input, ushering in an era of self-driving cars early in the next decade, analysts said.

The three companies said they would hold a joint news conference on Friday, without giving details. It will be attended by BMW Chief Executive Harald Krueger, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich and Mobileye Chairman and Chief Technology Officer Amnon Shashua, they said.”

Mobileye is best known for powering the Tesla Autopilot with its EyeQ chips, but the company has been working with several other automakers to develop their autonomous driving technology.

The company’s EyeQ5 chip is expected to be powerful enough to enable level 4 fully-autonomous driving and a partnership with Intel could be meaningful in helping bring the technology to market.

We should know more tomorrow.