Senior Intel Executives Visit Israel Operations, To Meet With Netanyahu

A delegation of senior executives from US chip giant Intel Corporation, including its interim CEO Robert Swan, arrived in Israel on Monday. The top executives are set to visit the multinational’s local operations in Haifa, and will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a company statement.

The visit is led by Professor Amnon Shashua, the founder and CEO of Mobileye, a developer of sensors for self-driving cars and a major player in the autonomous car industry, which was acquired by Intel for $15.3 billion last year. Mobileye maintains operations in Jerusalem.

Shashua also serves as senior vice president at Intel.

The purpose of the visit, according to the company statement, is to look into “Israel’s unique role as a source of global tech innovation.”

“The visit shows our commitment to Israel, and our belief that Israel is a catalyst for technology that will power the next era,” Swan said in a statement. “Israel will become a global center for autonomous driving technology, artificial intelligence, core computing, all of which are the most important [technologies] in the world.”

Shashua said the “historic visit” of the senior Intel team “emphasizes Israel’s centrality in the company’s vision and strategy.”

Over the course of the visit, Intel is set to unveil new 9th-generation processors for desktop, developed at Intel’s research and development center in Haifa.

In August, Intel unveiled the 8th Gen Intel Core processors, also developed in Israel.

Earlier this year, Intel submitted plans to nearly double its manufacturing operations in Israel, and invest some $5 billion over the next two years.

Intel employs about 11,000 people in Israel and another 1,000 from Mobileye. It is considered the largest employer in the tech sector.

Intel says that since it began operations in Israel in 1974, its investment in the Israeli economy has totaled $35 billion.