Kimbal Musk has acquired the drones that Intel used to create impressive light shows. A signal for Intel that it wants to focus primarily on its core tasks.
Musk buys the Intel Drone Light Shows as the service is formally called and does so through his newly founded company Nova Sky Stories. It is not known how much Kimbal Musk pays. This concerns a total of about 9,000 drones.
The main feature of drones is that they can fly and move in formation and thus form figures in the air. They came into action at the recent Olympic Games and the American Superbowl, for example. Intel started the drone shows after it acquired Ascending Technologies in 2016. Its co-founder and CEO Daniel Gurdan is also moving to Nova Sky Stories.
Intel confirms to The Register that it has sold “certain parts” of its drone business, but also that Intel now no longer has any drone activities. This means that other drone departments have also been closed down or sold in the meantime.
For Intel, the sale fits into a broader picture. Under one of its previous CEOs, Brian Krzanich, the company started several side activities, including AR and VR, wearables, smart glasses, drones, etc. But Intel also had a lot of setbacks in the chip market. Long before the current chip shortage, the company failed to downsize the production process (which makes for more economical and faster chips).
Since the arrival of Pat Gelsinger as the new CEO at the beginning of 2021, the focus has been fully on chips again. Intel plans new chip factories in the US, Europe and elsewhere, will also produce for other chip sellers for the first time and wants to focus mainly on that product, which means that side activities such as the drone shows are being divested.
