Intel just made a big bet on self-driving cars

You probably haven't heard of Mobileye, but in the past couple of years it has become one of the most important players in the emerging self-driving car industry. And that means Intel's $15 billion acquisition of the company, announced Monday, makes Intel one of the most important tech companies in the car industry. Intel powered the PC revolution by providing the computer chips that allowed PCs to become ever more powerful. Mobileye has positioned itself to do the same for self-driving cars: Currently, conventional car companies put Mobileye sensors, chips, and software into their vehicles in order to give them advanced driver-assistance capabilities. The company says its hardware is already embedded in more than 300 car models from 27 different car companies, and the company is reportedly working with giants such as GM and Volkswagen.