Tesla is buying computer vision start-up DeepScale

Tesla is buying computer vision start-up DeepScale

Tesla is acquiring DeepScale, a computer vision start-up that could help it grow fully driverless vehicles, as reported by CNBC.

Image by Jasper Juinen | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The deal could help Tesla’s aim to deliver cars with advanced driver-assistance systems which are good enough for owners to rent them out as”robotaxis” on an Uber-like platform without drivers. However, like all automakers, Tesla is limited by the computational res it can build into its vehicles.

DeepScale’s technology was created to help automakers use low-wattage processors, which can be standard in most cars, to electricity very accurate computer vision. These processors work with sensors, mapping, planning and management systems, allowing cars to make sense of what’s going on around them.

This week, DeepScale CEO Forrest Iandola joined Tesla as a senior staff machine learning scientist, according to an announcement he posted on his LinkedIn page.

Iandola simply said,”I joined the Tesla #Autopilot staff this week. I’m looking forward to working with some of the brightest minds in #deeplearning and #autonomousdriving.” Iandola acquired a PhD in electrical engineering and computer science at UC Berkeley, where he worked on deep neural nets that could work on mobile devices with relatively tiny amounts of memory.

Two other people familiar with the deal confirmed that Tesla had purchased the company, but declined to disclose the precise terms of the deal.

Tesla is acquiring computer vision startup DeepScale, CNBC has learned.
Forrest Iandola, the startup’s CEO, has joined Tesla as a senior staff machine learning scientist.
DeepScale could help fill the gap left by the departure of many Autopilot engineers that reportedly left over the summer.