Tech News: Intel Acquires Israeli AI Company Habana Labs In $2 Billion Deal

Computing giant Intel announced Monday to buy Israeli AI startup Habana Labs for approximately $2 billion in order to "turbo-charge" its machine learning offerings.

“This acquisition advances our AI strategy, which is to provide customers with solutions to fit every performance need – from the intelligent edge to the data center,” said Navin Shenoy, Intel's executive vice president and general manager of the Data Platforms Group.

Intel will allow Habana to keep its management, with the firm acting as an independent business unit of Intel. The AI chip firm will remain in Israel.

“Habana turbo-charges our AI offerings for the data center with a high-performance training processor family and a standards-based programming environment to address evolving AI workloads,” Shenoy added.

This is the 13th time that Intel has acquired an Israeli company. In 2017, Intel bought Israeli autonomous car company Mobileye for $15.3 billion, which now serves as a self-driving development subsidiary of Intel. Intel hopes the acquisitions will allow it to edge out its rivals, such as Nvidia.

Intel anticipates to generate over $3.5 billion in AI-driven revenue in 2019.

Israel is known for its high-tech sector, with the country's AI ecosystem exploding in recent years. In 2014, Israel had 512 AI companies, with that number increasing to 1,150 by the end of 2018. The number includes firms that develop core AI technologies, along with companies that use AI for certain purposes, such as in the health care industry or self-driving.

Habana was founded in 2016 and is based in Tel Aviv. The company had raised $120 million in capital.