Amnon Shashua plans to step down as Mobileye CEO after successor search

Why it matters

Mobileye is separating daily execution from Shashua's technology agenda as it moves beyond ADAS into costlier robotaxi and humanoid robotics businesses.

Amnon Shashua plans to step down as CEO of Mobileye once its board appoints a successor, ending his nearly decade-long run as chief executive while keeping the founder involved in the autonomous-driving supplier's technology bets.

Mobileye disclosed the succession plan alongside its second-quarter earnings on July 23. The board will hire an executive search firm, according to Mobileye's announcement. Shashua will remain a director and has been offered the chairman role after the new CEO takes over. The timing of the appointment and the candidates under consideration remain undisclosed.

Reuters reported that Mobileye shares rose 8% in premarket trading after the announcement and an earnings report that came in ahead of analysts' revenue estimate. The reaction also followed an improved full-year outlook, making it difficult to separate investors' response to the succession plan from the quarterly numbers.

Shashua called Mobileye his "life's work" and said its growth and maturity made this the right time for a different leadership structure. His proposed chairmanship would focus on long-term technology and innovation, including humanoid robotics, according to Mobileye.

That structure would preserve the technical direction of the founder who shaped Mobileye while shifting daily execution to a new CEO. It is a significant division of labor as Mobileye enters a launch-heavy period across driver assistance, self-driving systems, robotaxis and robotics.

From a single camera to a public company

Shashua founded Mobileye in 1999 from his computer-vision research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Mobileye's company history says the original thesis was that software running on a processor could use a single camera to detect vehicles, challenging an automotive industry that largely relied on radar or stereo-camera systems for driver assistance.

An Asian automaker funded an early demonstration. Shashua then formed Mobileye with Ziv Aviram and Norio Ichihashi. Aviram handled operations, finance and investor relations, while Shashua led technology, research and strategy. The arrangement continued through Mobileye's 2014 listing and Intel's $15.3 billion acquisition in 2017. Shashua became CEO after Aviram retired following the sale.

Mobileye returned to public markets in 2022, though Intel retained control. An SEC filing said Intel held about 77% of Mobileye's outstanding stock and 96.9% of its voting power as of February 3, 2026. The board's choice of successor will therefore happen inside a controlled public company, with Intel able to determine the outcome of shareholder votes.

Shashua's work has also extended beyond Mobileye. Mobileye's management biography identifies him as a founder of assistive-technology company OrCam, language-model developer AI21 Labs, digital bank One Zero, humanoid robotics developer Mentee Robotics and AI research company AAI Technologies. He also holds the Sachs Chair in Computer Science at the Hebrew University.

The breadth of those projects helps explain the proposed chair role. Mobileye is effectively designing a position that lets Shashua concentrate on research and new technology while another executive runs a business serving more than 50 automakers.

The next CEO inherits a launch schedule

Mobileye's core operation remains the sale of advanced driver-assistance chips and systems. Its SEC filing said Mobileye shipped about 35.7 million EyeQ and SuperVision systems in 2025. Its technology had been installed across roughly 1,400 vehicle models, and its system-on-chips had reached more than 230 million vehicles by the end of that year.

That installed base gives Mobileye scale, though the incoming CEO will be asked to turn years of research spending into larger businesses beyond basic driver assistance.

Mobileye reported second-quarter revenue of $508 million, compared with $506 million a year earlier. The result exceeded the $481.24 million estimate cited by Reuters, but the year-over-year performance was essentially flat. Mobileye raised the midpoint of its 2026 revenue outlook and narrowed the range to $1.97 billion to $2.02 billion.

The profit figures require more context. Mobileye reported a $30 million GAAP operating loss, improved from $74 million a year earlier. Adjusted operating income rose to $155 million from $106 million, with a substantial benefit from an Israeli research-and-development incentive recognized during the quarter. Mobileye said the new law produced a roughly $110 million offset to GAAP research expenses for the first half of 2026.

Shashua said Mobileye was preparing advanced product launches in late 2026 and throughout 2027. Those plans include next-generation driver-assistance systems, self-driving systems supplied to partners and a vertically integrated robotaxi service. Mobileye said it was working with vendors for vehicles, system installation and fleet support, while its Moovit unit accelerated work on rider applications and fleet optimization.

The succession places those commercialization tasks at the center of the search. Mobileye needs a CEO who can manage automaker production schedules and chip economics while coordinating capital-intensive moves into fleet operations and humanoid robots.

The Mentee deal follows Shashua into the chair

Mobileye's expansion into humanoid robotics is closely tied to Shashua. On February 3, Mobileye completed its $900 million acquisition of Mentee Robotics, where Shashua was chairman, co-founder and a significant shareholder. Mobileye CTO Shai Shalev-Shwartz was also a co-founder and significant shareholder.

The related-party nature of the transaction makes governance part of the succession story. Mobileye's filing said a committee of four disinterested directors recommended the acquisition, the audit committee approved it under the related-person transaction policy and Shashua recused himself from the board's deliberations.

Shashua received 37.83% of the transaction consideration, valued at about $341 million and split between cash and Mobileye stock. Shalev-Shwartz received about $118 million. Most of the founders' stock consideration is scheduled for release in equal portions two and four years after the February closing, subject to continued employment or, in some circumstances, continued affiliation with Mobileye.

Mobileye has said Mentee will operate independently in the short to medium term. Its SEC filing also acknowledged that humanoid robotics commercialization remains uncertain and may require substantial management attention, capital and operating expenses.

Moving Shashua toward a chairmanship focused partly on humanoid robotics would keep the founder directly attached to the expansion he initiated. It would also leave the next CEO responsible for controlling its cost and integrating the bet with Mobileye's established automotive business.

The board is searching for a successor before Shashua leaves the CEO role, avoiding an interim handoff. The deeper transition has already been defined: Mobileye wants an operating leader for its next commercialization cycle while its founder remains close to the research agenda that created Mobileye.