Mobileye CEO Shashua Steps Aside for Robotaxi, Robotics Push

Mobileye founder Amnon Shashua is stepping down as CEO after nearly three decades, TechCrunch reported, and the timing is what makes it interesting. He is leaving right as the company rebrands itself around two of the most contested bets in AI hardware, its own robotaxi service and humanoid robotics.

The setup is that Shashua stays in the role until a successor is hired, and has been offered the chairman seat but has not taken a final decision. Mobileye will use a management consulting firm to run the search. On paper this is a planned transition; in practice, whoever takes the seat is being handed what Shashua calls 'Mobileye 3.0,' anchored by the January 2026 acquisition of humanoid startup Mentee Robotics, which Shashua himself founded, for $900 million, and by plans announced in June to launch its own robotaxi service in a U.S. city in 2027.

Why this matters for anyone watching autonomy: Mobileye has spent most of the last decade as the safe supplier of chips and driver-assistance systems, with autonomous driving customers that include Volkswagen and MOIA. Running its own robotaxi fleet puts it into competition with the same kind of OEM buyers it sells to. The Mentee deal is the more speculative half of the pivot, since humanoid robotics is crowded, capital-intensive, and years from revenue for almost every player in it.

The honest caveats are worth stating. The reporting is clear on the intent but thin on execution: no successor name, no launch city for the 2027 robotaxi, no disclosure on how the $900 million for a startup founded by the outgoing CEO was priced or governed. It is also not obvious how a founder who may take the chairman seat plays alongside an incoming CEO expected to reshape the company.

What is worth watching is the profile of the next CEO. An auto-industry hire signals Mobileye is doubling down on the supplier business with robotaxis as a side bet; an AI or robotics operator signals the humanoid pivot is the real story.