Intel is acquiring self-driving technology company Mobileye as it gears up plans to put a fleet of autonomous vehicles on the road this year.

The American chipmaker announced it will purchase the company for $15.3bn (£12.5bn) in a record breaking deal that marks the highest price paid for an autonomous driving specialist and for an Israeli tech company.

Both Intel and Mobileye have been working with BMW on a fleet of self-driving vehicles due to start testing on the roads in the second half of this year.

Mobileye, founded in 1999, specialises in systems that prevent collisions and help autonomous cars navigate, accounting for 70pc of the global market.

Intel, meanwhile, has been developing a new chip that is designed to power autonomous vehicles. Having missed out on the smartphone market to rival chipmaker ARM, Intel is determined to be a major player in autonomous vehicles.

The company said only at the end of last year that it planned to spend $250m on self-driving tech in the next two years.

"The acquisition of Mobileye essentially merges the intelligent eyes of the autonomous car with the intelligent brain that actually drives the car," said Brian Krzanich, chief executive of Intel.