Bio

Amnon Shashua is an Israeli computer scientist, businessman, and philanthropist, born May 26, 1960 in Ramat Gan, Israel. He is the founder, chief executive officer, and chairman of Mobileye, the autonomous-driving and computer-vision company he co-founded in 1999, and a co-founder of AAI, the Israeli AI research lab he established in August 2023 with Shai Shalev-Shwartz. He is the Sachs Professor of Computer Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the founder or co-founder of OrCam, AI21 Labs, Mentee Robotics, and ONE ZERO digital bank. As of May 2026, he leads Mobileye (publicly traded on Nasdaq with Intel retaining approximately 88% ownership) and AAI (with reported valuation exceeding $1 billion following its November 2025 funding round), among multiple other concurrent operating roles.

At a glance

• Education: Bachelor of Science in mathematics and computer science, Tel Aviv University (1985); Master of Science in computer science, Weizmann Institute of Science (1989); PhD in brain and cognitive sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1993).
• Current roles: Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of Mobileye, 1999 to present; Co-founder of AAI, August 2023 to present; Sachs Professor of Computer Science, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, since 2007.
• Key contributions: founder of Mobileye (1999); founder of CogniTens (1995, sold to Hexagon AB in 2007); co-founder of OrCam (2010); co-founder of AI21 Labs (2017); founder of ONE ZERO digital bank; co-founder of Mentee Robotics (2022, acquired by Mobileye for $900 million in January 2026); co-founder of AAI (August 2023).
• Recognition: Israel Prize for lifetime achievement (2023); Dan David Prize for AI contributions (2020); elected international member, US National Academy of Engineering (2026); over 160 published papers and over 200 patents.
• X / Twitter: @amnonshashua
• Wikipedia: Amnon Shashua

Origins

Shashua was born May 26, 1960 in Ramat Gan, Israel, to parents of Iraqi-Jewish origin. He completed a Bachelor of Science in mathematics and computer science at Tel Aviv University in 1985, then a Master of Science in computer science at the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1989. He moved to the United States for doctoral study, completing a PhD in brain and cognitive sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1993.

He returned to Israel as a faculty member at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1996, becoming a full professor in 2003 and the Sachs Professor of Computer Science in 2007. The academic appointment has continued in parallel with his entrepreneurial activity across more than two decades.

Career

Shashua's professional career organizes around six sequential or concurrent operating ventures, with Mobileye the most consequential and his current operating commitments spanning Mobileye, AAI, and ONE ZERO.

He co-founded CogniTens in 1995, a 3D measurement-and-inspection company that was sold to Hexagon AB in 2007. The CogniTens exit established the early commercial track record on which subsequent ventures built.

He co-founded Mobileye in 1999 in Jerusalem with Ziv Aviram, the autonomous-driving and computer-vision company that became his most consequential operating output. Mobileye developed the EyeQ family of automotive computer-vision chips for advanced driver-assistance systems and the broader Mobileye Drive autonomous-driving platform, with deployment across more than 30 automaker partnerships. Mobileye listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014, was acquired by Intel in 2017 for $15.3 billion (one of the largest Israeli technology exits in history), and listed publicly again on Nasdaq in October 2022 with Intel retaining approximately 88% ownership. EyeQ chips have been deployed in more than 200 million vehicles cumulatively across more than 30 automaker partnerships as of April 2026.

He co-founded OrCam in 2010, the assistive-devices company developing wearable products for visually impaired and reading-disability users. OrCam built the OrCam MyEye and adjacent product lines.

He co-founded AI21 Labs in 2017 with Yoav Shoham and Ori Goshen, the Israeli generative-AI research-and-product company. AI21 develops Jurassic and Jamba large-language-model lines and the Wordtune consumer assistant. Shashua has continued as chairman.

He founded ONE ZERO digital bank, the Israeli digital-banking platform.

He co-founded Mentee Robotics in 2022 with Shalev-Shwartz and Lior Wolf, the humanoid-robotics venture targeting industrial-and-consumer robotics applications. Mobileye acquired Mentee Robotics for $900 million in January 2026.

He co-founded AAI in August 2023 with Shai Shalev-Shwartz, Mobileye's chief technology officer and Shashua's longtime academic-and-entrepreneurial co-founder. AAI develops what the company calls Artificial Expert Intelligence, AI systems intended to perform at the level of leading human experts in technical domains. AAI raised approximately $221 million cumulative through its November 2025 round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners at a reported valuation exceeding $1 billion, with Nvidia, Michael Dell, Bessemer Venture Partners, Pitango First, and Greenfield Partners participating.

Affiliations

• CogniTens: Co-founder, 1995 to 2007 (acquired by Hexagon AB).
• Hebrew University of Jerusalem: Faculty member, 1996 to present; Full Professor, 2003 to present; Sachs Professor of Computer Science, 2007 to present.
• Mobileye: Co-founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman, 1999 to present.
• OrCam: Co-founder, 2010 to present.
• AI21 Labs: Co-founder and Chairman, 2017 to present.
• ONE ZERO: Founder.
• Mentee Robotics: Co-founder, 2022 to January 2026 (acquired by Mobileye).
• AAI: Co-founder, August 2023 to present.

Notable contributions

Shashua's published record runs through more than two decades of academic computer-vision and machine-learning research, six entrepreneurial ventures, and over 160 papers and 200 patents.

• Mobileye (1999). Co-founded the autonomous-driving and computer-vision company. Two-time public listing (NYSE 2014, Nasdaq 2022); $15.3 billion Intel acquisition in 2017; deployment across more than 200 million vehicles cumulatively across more than 30 automaker partnerships.
• AI21 Labs (2017). Co-founded the Israeli generative-AI research-and-product company; Jurassic and Jamba LLM lines; Wordtune consumer assistant.
• OrCam (2010). Co-founded the assistive-devices company.
• Mentee Robotics (2022). Co-founded the humanoid-robotics venture; acquired by Mobileye for $900 million in January 2026.
• AAI (August 2023). Co-founded the Israeli AI research lab; approximately $221 million cumulative funding through November 2025; reported valuation exceeding $1 billion.
• Recognition. Israel Prize for lifetime achievement (2023); Dan David Prize for AI contributions (2020); elected international member, US National Academy of Engineering (2026); over 160 published papers and over 200 patents.

Investments and boards

• Mobileye (autonomous driving): Co-founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman, 1999 to present. Publicly traded on Nasdaq (MBLY); approximately 88% owned by Intel.
• AI21 Labs (generative AI): Co-founder and Chairman, 2017 to present.
• OrCam (assistive devices): Co-founder, 2010 to present.
• ONE ZERO (digital bank): Founder.
• AAI (AI research): Co-founder, August 2023 to present.

His philanthropy through the Shashua Family Foundation has totaled approximately $60 million as of 2024, focused on economic-opportunity programs and supporting underrepresented populations in Israel.

Network

Shashua's longest-running professional relationship is with Shai Shalev-Shwartz, Mobileye's chief technology officer and his co-founder at Mentee Robotics and AAI, alongside the Hebrew University Computer Science Department from which he has recruited senior research collaborators across all his ventures. Ziv Aviram is his co-founder at Mobileye and OrCam. Yoav Shoham and Ori Goshen are his co-founders at AI21 Labs. The AAI co-founder cohort beyond Shalev-Shwartz includes Yoav Levine and Or Sharir (former senior researchers at AI21 Labs), Noam Weiss (from OrCam), and Gal Benyamini (from the Hebrew University ML research community), all former Shashua doctoral students. The investor cohort across Shashua's ventures spans Lightspeed, Nvidia, Bessemer, Michael Dell, Pitango, Greenfield Partners, and adjacent senior-tier venture-capital and strategic-investor relationships.

Position in the field

As of May 2026, Shashua occupies a structurally distinctive position among Israeli technology entrepreneurs. The combination of the long-running Mobileye chief-executive role, the simultaneous co-founder roles at AI21 Labs and AAI, the OrCam and ONE ZERO commercial ventures, the Mentee Robotics exit to Mobileye, and the Hebrew University academic appointment produces a profile not directly mirrored among peer technology-and-AI founders globally. The closest peer comparators in the broader serial-founder cohort are Elon Musk, who runs multiple operating companies in parallel, and Andrew Ng, who has held simultaneous senior-research and entrepreneurial roles. Shashua differs from both in the depth of the Israeli ecosystem connections and the long-running Hebrew University academic appointment that has continued throughout his entrepreneurial activity.

The 2017 Mobileye-Intel acquisition for $15.3 billion was one of the largest Israeli technology exits in history. The 2023 Israel Prize for lifetime achievement and the 2020 Dan David Prize for AI contributions place Shashua among the most-recognized Israeli scientists of his generation. The cross-portfolio relationships between Mobileye, AI21 Labs, AAI, and Mentee Robotics (until its January 2026 absorption into Mobileye) reflect a structurally consequential coordination of senior research-and-operating talent across the Israeli AI ecosystem.

Outlook

Open questions over the next 6 to 18 months:

• AAI public model release. First public model release, if any, and the capability profile relative to frontier-tier comparators.
• Mentee Robotics integration. Translation of the January 2026 Mobileye acquisition into commercial humanoid-and-mobile-robotics products.
• Mobileye competitive position. Continued EyeQ deployment across automaker partnerships against Tesla AI and adjacent autonomous-driving incumbents.
• AI21 Labs trajectory. Capital formation and product-launch cadence at AI21 under continued Shashua chairmanship.
• AAI follow-on capital. Whether the company accepts follow-on capital at a higher valuation, and on what timeline.
• Continued operating bandwidth. Time and decision-making allocation across the simultaneous Mobileye, AAI, AI21 Labs, OrCam, and ONE ZERO operating-and-board roles.

Sources

• Amnon Shashua. Wikipedia biographical entry covering education, Mobileye, AI21 Labs, OrCam, Mentee Robotics, AAI, and recognition.
• Mobileye Founder and CEO Prof. Amnon Shashua. Mobileye's official bio for Shashua.
• American Friends of the Hebrew University: Professor Amnon Shashua. Academic bio with Sachs Chair reference.
• Mobileye News: Israel Prize Awarded to Mobileye Founder Prof. Amnon Shashua. 2023 Israel Prize coverage.
• Calcalist: Shashua's stealth AI startup raises hundreds of millions at over $1 billion valuation. Primary source on the November 2025 AAI funding round.
• Globes: Nvidia joins $200m round raised by Shashua's AI startup. Coverage of the November 2025 AAI fundraising and Nvidia participation.
• Automotive Hall of Fame: Amnon Shashua. Industry honoree reference covering Mobileye history.