Mobileye acquires humanoid robotics startup Mentee Robotics for $900M in major AI bet

Mobileye is making a sharp turn beyond self-driving cars. The Israeli autonomous driving firm said Tuesday it is acquiring humanoid robotics startup Mentee Robotics in a deal valued at about $900 million, signaling a serious bet on what it sees as the next phase of artificial intelligence.

The acquisition ties together two fields that have quietly been converging for years. Autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots rely on the same core capabilities: sensing the environment, interpreting what they see, and deciding how to act in real time. Mobileye believes those skills no longer belong only on the road.

“This acquisition will accelerate Mentee’s go-to-market strategy, with first on-site proof-of-concept deployments with customers expected in 2026. These deployments are intended to operate autonomously without teleoperation, and series production and commercialization are targeted for 2028,” Mobileye said in a news release.

Interest in humanoid robotics has surged as companies seek machines that can operate in spaces designed for people. Warehouses, factories, and industrial sites rarely change their layouts, making human-shaped robots appealing for repetitive or physically demanding work. Labor shortages have only intensified that interest, especially in logistics and manufacturing.

Mobileye’s roots trace back to 1999, when it was founded in Israel by Amnon Shashua and Ziv Aviram. The company built its reputation on vision-based driver-assistance systems designed to prevent crashes and reduce driver workload. After years at Intel, Mobileye went public on the Nasdaq in October 2022 during a volatile stretch for tech listings.

Intel still holds a sizable role. The chip giant remains Mobileye’s largest shareholder with about a 23% stake and last year spun off its RealSense computer vision unit to deepen its robotics presence. That move hinted at a broader strategy that now looks clearer.

Shashua sits at the center of this deal. He serves as Mobileye’s CEO and as co-CEO of Mentee Robotics. Mentee raised roughly $21 million in March, valuing the company at about $162 million, according to PitchBook. Investors include the venture arms of Cisco and Samsung.

The competitive field is getting crowded. Tesla, Figure AI, Agility Robotics, and several Chinese startups are racing to build two-legged robots capable of performing general-purpose tasks. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said humanoid robots could become the company’s largest business over time.

The agreement was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. It combines Mobileye’s software stack, sensing hardware, and safety systems with Mentee’s work on general-purpose humanoid robots. Mentee says its approach reduces the need for massive real-world data collection by converting a single human demonstration into millions of virtual training runs.

Early proof-of-concept deployments are expected in 2026. Series production and commercial rollout are targeted for 2028. The transaction remains subject to standard closing conditions and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026.

For Mobileye, the message is clear. The company sees embodied AI as the next arena where perception and decision-making software will matter, and it plans to arrive early, before the field hardens around a few dominant players.

Mobileye acquires humanoid robotics startup Mentee Robotics for $900M in major AI bet