Week in Review: IoT, Security, Auto

Deals
ArterisIP inked a deal with Mobileye, which has bought multiple licenses for ArterisIP’s interconnect and resilience technology for functional safety and AI hardware acceleration. Mobileye, which was purchased by Intel last year for $15.3 billion, will use the technology for ISO 26262/ASIL B and D SoCs.

Siemens agreed to operate its MindSphere digital operating system on Alibaba Cloud, helping to connect Internet of Things devices in China. MindSphere was previously available only on Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.

SAP is teaming with Suning Holdings Group for joint research in artificial intelligence, big data, blockchain, cloud computing, and IoT technology for use in China’s financial, retail and sports sectors. In addition, Suning Logistics closed a self-driving partnership agreement with Baidu to use the open-source Apollo technology for logistics development in China.

Automotive Tech
Daimler and Bosch will work together on autonomous vehicle technology, using Nvidia’s Drive Pegasus computing platform to provide the artificial intelligence element. Nvidia will provide an AI processor and graphics processing units to the automotive companies, which plan to launch vehicles with Level 4 and Level 5 autonomy as soon as the second half of 2019, testing the technology in California communities.

Cybersecurity
AT&T is purchasing AlienVault, a provider of threat intelligence cybersecurity software; financial terms weren’t disclosed, and the transaction is expected to close during this quarter. The carrier will expand its enterprise-grade security portfolio with the proposed acquisition. The combined offerings will be marketed to small and medium-sized businesses. AlienVault was founded in 2007 and has raised about $120 million in private funding from such investors as Intel Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

The Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on Thursday, with the security of the nation’s energy infrastructure on the agenda. The committee planned to discuss cyberattacks and physical attacks on the power grid, and how to defend against such attacks.

ForeScout Technologies and Carbon Black worked together to produce the ForeScout Extended Module for Carbon Black, pairing ForeScout’s agentless visibility capabilities for the IoT with Carbon Black’s endpoint protection.

NXP Semiconductors provided its MIFARE products to the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia football matches, enabling secure, contactless ticketing for the tournament’s events, which conclude on Sunday, July 15, with the championship match between Croatia and France. The chipmaker also supplied its NTAG near-field communication technology for the adidas Telstar 18, the Official Match Ball of the FIFA World Cup.

Products/Services
National Instruments and Spirent Communications are collaborating on developing test systems for 5G New Radio devices. Their partnering will allow 5G chipset and device manufacturers to validate the performance of 5G NR smartphones and IoT devices in the lab, without resorting to 5G base stations.

Telit Communications reports its deviceWISE IoT platform is fully interoperable with the IBM Watson IoT platform, running on the IBM Cloud. The combined platforms offer capabilities to manufacturers and other industrial enterprises, according to Telit.

ADLINK Technology teamed with FogHorn Systems to bring edge intelligence to ADLINK’s DXS IoT digital experiments-as-a-service.

Finance
Pony.ai, a self-driving technology startup, raised $102 million in Series A-1 funding led by Eight Roads Ventures and ClearVue Partners. New investors Green Pine Capital Partners, CMC Capital, and Redpoint Ventures joined existing investors Sequoia Capital China, Morningside Venture Capital, DCM Ventures, and Hongtai Capital. Pony.ai in January received $112 million in Series A funding led by Morningside VC and Legend Capital.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based DeepMap has reportedly received $60 million from Chinese investors, namely Alibaba Group, Didi Chuxing, and BAIC Group. DeepMap develops mapping technology for autonomous vehicles.

Kyligence of Shanghai, China, raised $15 million in a round of private funding led by Eight Roads Ventures. The investment arm of Fidelity International was joined by Redpoint Ventures, Cisco Systems, China Broadband Capital, and Shunwei Capital. Kyligence provides a data analysis platform and has raised a total of $25 million in private funding.

Aurora Labs of Tel Aviv, Israel, received $8.4 million in Series A funding led by Fraser McCombs Capital. MizMaa Ventures, an existing investor, also participated in the new round. Founded in 2016, Aurora Labs offers automotive software fixes and predictive maintenance for connected vehicles, enabling what it calls “the self-healing car.” The startup has an office in Munich, Germany, and plans to open sales offices in Detroit and San Francisco with the new funding.

Sunnyvale, Calif.- based Perceptive Automata received $3 million in seed funding from First Round Capital. The startup develops pedestrian awareness and intent technology for autonomous vehicles. Perceptive Automata also has an office in Somerville, Mass.

Market Research
Juniper Research forecasts worldwide spending on IoT cybersecurity offerings will increase by almost 300% from this year, reaching more than $6 billion by 2023. Its new Internet of Things for Security Providers research is available here.