Mobileye Acquires Mentee Robotics for $900M, xAI Raises $20 Billion Led by NVIDIA and Fidelity

TL;DR

• Mobileye acquires Mentee Robotics for $900M to expand into humanoid robots, targeting 2026 proof-of-concept deployments and 2028 series production
• xAI Secures $20B Series E Funding Led by NVIDIA and Fidelity, Valuation Reaches $230B to Expand Colossus Supercomputer and Grok AI Models
• Pfizer Acquires Metsera in $12B Biotech M&A Deal Amid Industry-Wide Bidding War and Post-IRA Drug Pricing Shifts
• DayOne Data Centers Closes $2B Series C Round Led by Coatue to Build AI-Optimized Facilities in Singapore, Finland, and Japan
• Ripple Partners with Mizuho Bank and SMBC Nikko to Expand XRP Ledger Use for Tokenized Securities and Real-World Assets
• LMArena Raises $150M Series A at $1.7B Valuation to Launch Commercial AI Evaluation Platform with 60M Monthly Conversations
• Apple Plans Cellular-Enabled MacBook with 5G Network Slicing to Meet Enterprise Demand, Following 45% Rise in Corporate Cellular Laptop Adoption

Mobileye Acquires Mentee Robotics for $900M to Enter Humanoid Robot Market by 2028

Mobileye is acquiring Mentee Robotics for $900 million to expand its physical AI portfolio beyond automotive systems. The acquisition leverages Mobileye’s EyeQ6H AI accelerator, already deployed in 24.5B in annual automotive revenue, to enable perception and control systems in humanoid robots.

What are the key milestones?

• Deal announcement: 6 Jan 2026, CES Las Vegas
• Regulatory close: Q1 2026
• First proof-of-concept deployments: 2026
• TechCrunch demonstration: 13–15 May 2026
• Series production launch: 2028
• Target volume: 5–10k units/year by 2028, scaling to 30k/year by 2030

How does this fit industry trends?

Mobileye joins Hyundai and Boston Dynamics as a major hardware-focused entrant. Hyundai targets 30k Atlas units annually by 2028; Boston Dynamics shipped 500 units in 2025. Mobileye’s entry creates a third competitive pillar in the humanoid space.

What is the financial and technical rationale?

• The deal structure includes $612M cash and up to 26.2M Mobileye shares, limiting immediate cash outflow.
• EyeQ6H ASIC reduces per-unit perception hardware costs by ~30% compared to legacy CPU-based systems.
• Mentee’s R&D team remains independent, preserving its data-efficient training methodology aligned with Mobileye’s simulation-first validation pipeline.
• Intel’s silicon supply chain and RealSense sensor technology accelerate integration.

What revenue potential exists?

By 2028, humanoid robotics could contribute $1.2B in revenue (5% of Mobileye’s projected 2028 revenue) at an average unit price of $120k. By 2030, revenue may reach $1.5B as production scales and partnerships with OEMs like Hyundai expand.

What risks remain?

Scaling from proof-of-concept to series production requires certification under emerging safety standards (e.g., UL 2772), supply chain ramp-up, and regulatory compliance. A six-month delay could compress margins by 2 percentage points. Mobileye’s automotive safety track record may mitigate regulatory exposure.

What broader market signals support this move?

Goldman Sachs projects a $38B humanoid market by 2035; Morgan Stanley forecasts $5T by 2050. Investor participation from Intel, Cisco, and Ahren Innovation Capital confirms industry-wide confidence in commercial viability. Capital concentration in the sector—over $1B in recent acquisitions—indicates a structural shift toward hardware-scale robotics.

xAI Secures $20B Funding to Scale Supercomputer and AI Models Amid Regulatory and Supply Chain Risks

xAI raised $20 billion in a Series E round led by NVIDIA and Fidelity, valuing the company at $230 billion. The capital is allocated to expand the Colossus supercomputer, which will incorporate over 1 million H100 GPU equivalents and 100,000 Rubin GPU chips. The system has a 2 GW power budget, supported by five 380 MW natural-gas turbines.

How is xAI monetizing its AI models?

Grok 4 is live with multimodal capabilities; Grok 5 is in training. Grok Business, priced at $30 per seat monthly, targets enterprise users with SSO, SCIM, and RAG APIs. Early estimates suggest a $5 billion annual recurring revenue runway if 5% of X’s 600 million active users convert. A $200 million Pentagon contract provides a stable dual-use revenue stream.

What are the key technical advantages?

Colossus delivers over 6.6 exatokens per day, achieving approximately one-tenth the token cost of NVIDIA’s Blackwell platform. The stack integrates NVIDIA H100, Rubin GPUs, NVLink 6, and Cisco 100 GbE networking to reduce inference latency. Colossus II, expected in Q3 2026, will further reduce token cost to ~0.08 cents per million tokens.

What regulatory and supply chain risks exist?

UK Ofcom and the EU are investigating Grok-generated sexualized deepfakes. Compliance measures could increase operational costs by $150 million annually and raise inference latency by 5–10%. U.S. export controls on NVIDIA H200 chips to China may constrain future GPU procurement. xAI is exploring AMD’s Instinct line as an alternative silicon source.

What is the competitive landscape?

NVIDIA’s Rubin platform and AMD’s Helios AI rack are lowering compute costs industry-wide. China’s DeepSeek claims comparable performance at lower cost, intensifying the race on token efficiency. xAI’s differentiation hinges on vertical integration and enterprise software features, not hardware alone.

What are the projected outcomes?

• Compute expansion: Colossus II deployment by Q3 2026
• Revenue: $5 billion ARR from Grok Business by Q4 2026; Pentagon contract to grow to $350 million
• Regulatory cost: $100–200 million annually
• Margin impact: Net margin compression capped at ≤5% with proactive mitigation

xAI’s strategy prioritizes compute scale and enterprise monetization. Its long-term viability depends on managing energy consumption, regulatory compliance, and hardware supply chain resilience.