Chip designer Qualcomm will buy Israel's Autotalks as the U.S. company looks to deepen its automotive business, Qualcomm said in a statement. Autotalks makes chips used in technology aimed at preventing vehicle crashes.
With an increase in electric vehicles and the number of automatic features in cars, chip usage by automakers is surging, making the automotive market a key growth area for chipmakers.
Autotalks makes dedicated chips used in the vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications technology for manned and driverless vehicles to improve road safety.
"We have been investing in V2X research, development and deployment since 2017 and believe that as the automotive market matures, a standalone V2X safety architecture will be needed for enhanced road user safety, as well as smart transportation systems," Nakul Duggal, senior vice-president of automotive at Qualcomm Technologies, said.
Qualcomm had said last year that its automotive business "pipeline" had increased to $30 billion, up more than $10 billion since an announcement in late July.
The company had credited the jump to its Snapdragon Digital Chassis product used by automakers and their suppliers. The Snapdragon Digital Chassis can provide assisted and autonomous driving technology, as well as in-car infotainment and cloud connectivity.
Qualcomm on Monday said it would incorporate Autotalks' solutions into Snapdragon Digital Chassis product portfolio but did not elaborate on the financials of the deal.
The acquisition will be made through its unit Qualcomm Technologies, Qualcomm added.