Digital Audit - Mercedes-Benz Group AG

Domain: Digital - Digital / Technology Entity scope: Mercedes-Benz Group AG (Stuttgart; formerly Daimler AG) - passenger-car and van division. Daimler Truck Holding AG (spun off December 2021) is excluded. Vendor-domicile rule applies: only genuinely Israeli-domiciled vendors counted in scope (Valens, Gauzy, Otonomo, Mobileye = Israeli; Argus = now Continental/German-domiciled = out). Compiled: 2026-06-21 Method: Live web search only

Enterprise Technology Stack & Vendor Relationships

Mercedes-Benz operates a multi-cloud enterprise environment across AWS and Microsoft Azure; its cloud-based manufacturing data platform (MO360) is standardised on Microsoft Azure across ~30 passenger-car plants, and a cross-cloud data mesh built on Databricks Delta Sharing moves after-sales data between AWS and Azure.¹² Core enterprise and vehicle-software partners include NVIDIA (MB.OS computing; DRIVE Orin SoC), Bosch (camera/sensor supply for Drive Pilot), Google (mapping/AI), and Luminar (LiDAR - production contract terminated during 2024 for failure to meet contractual requirements).³⁴

Israeli vendors confirmed in this layer:

• Valens Semiconductor (Tel Aviv, Israel; Nasdaq: VLN) - Israeli fabless chip company supplying in-vehicle connectivity chipsets. Valens VA6000 chipsets are embedded in Mercedes-Benz S-Class, C-Class, and E-Class vehicles for high-speed infotainment/telematics connectivity over unshielded wiring; Valens’ technology has been integrated into an estimated 3.5 million Mercedes-Benz vehicles, under a publicly announced Daimler–Valens partnership.⁵⁶⁷
• Otonomo Technologies Ltd. (Herzliya, Israel) - Israeli-domiciled connected-vehicle data platform. Daimler AG integrated Otonomo’s vehicle-data platform into Mercedes-Benz connected cars in January 2019, with a July 2021 agreement expanding the relationship to fleet-data access across 25 European countries.⁸⁹¹⁰ Otonomo announced a merger with US roadside-assistance company Urgent.ly in February 2023 (ticker ULY); the merged entity is US-domiciled, and live commercial relevance to Mercedes-Benz vehicle data post-merger is unconfirmed in open sources - flagged with a domicile caveat.¹¹

No public evidence identified of Mercedes-Benz Group using Cellebrite, Palantir, Check Point, or other Israeli-domiciled enterprise security/analytics vendors in its corporate IT stack.

Surveillance, Biometrics & Retail Technology

Mercedes-Benz Research & Development Tel Aviv (opened November 2017) explicitly cites biometric authentication as one of its core research focus areas for connected vehicles, including in-car biometric vehicle entry and identity verification.¹²¹³

Gauzy Ltd. (Tel Aviv, Israel; Nasdaq: GAUZ) - Israeli smart-glass manufacturer headquartered at 14 Hathiya Street, Tel Aviv. Gauzy is the sole licensed manufacturer of SPD (Suspended Particle Device) smart-glass used in Mercedes-Benz serial-production vehicles, deployed across five production models including the Maybach S-Class and SL Roadster; Gauzy was also selected for Mercedes-Benz’s corporate start-up accelerator (from ~300 global applicants), and its dual SPD/PDLC smart-glass stack featured in the Mercedes-Benz Vision V show car at Auto Shanghai (April 2025), covering ~75% of the vehicle’s glazing.^14151617

No public evidence identified of Mercedes-Benz deploying Israeli-origin mass retail surveillance, commercial facial recognition, or third-party biometric data sales.

Cloud Infrastructure, Data Residency & Sovereign Cloud Participation

Mercedes-Benz’s primary cloud infrastructure is AWS (US-domiciled) and Microsoft Azure (US-domiciled), with no public evidence of the company using Israeli cloud regions or Israeli sovereign-cloud providers, participating in Israeli government cloud procurement, sharing data with Israeli state agencies, or routing vehicle telemetry through Israeli data infrastructure.¹²

Defence, Intelligence & Security Sector Technology Relationships

Argus Cyber Security / PlaxidityX (domicile note): Argus was founded in Tel Aviv in 2013 by alumni of Israeli military intelligence Unit 8200, developing automotive cybersecurity for connected vehicles.¹⁸ Continental AG (Hannover, Germany) acquired Argus in November 2017 for ~$430 million, after which it was rebranded PlaxidityX and integrated into Continental’s Elektrobit subsidiary.¹⁹²⁰ Argus/PlaxidityX is now a subsidiary of Continental AG, a German Tier-1 supplier, not an independently Israeli-domiciled entity; any ongoing cybersecurity components in Mercedes-Benz vehicles tracing to Argus technology are routed through a German corporate parent, and no public evidence shows Mercedes-Benz contracted with Argus directly while it was Israeli-domiciled.

No public evidence identified of Mercedes-Benz Group AG supplying vehicles, software, or technology directly to the Israel Defense Forces, Israeli intelligence agencies, or Israeli security contractors (the Military audit covers vehicle supply; this section concerns digital/intelligence technology).

AI, Algorithmic & Autonomous Systems

Mobileye (Jerusalem, Israel) - not a verified current Mercedes-Benz supplier. Mercedes-Benz was not identified in live searches as a current Mobileye OEM customer for ADAS camera systems or autonomous driving; Mobileye’s 2024–2025 investor materials do not name Mercedes-Benz as a customer.²¹ A 2020 Israeli tech publication referencing the end of the BMW–Mercedes joint autonomous-driving programme links Mobileye specifically to BMW and Intel, not to Mercedes-Benz.²² Mercedes-Benz’s Drive Pilot Level 3 system (US availability 2024 on EQS/S-Class) was built around NVIDIA DRIVE Orin computing, Bosch stereo cameras, Luminar LiDAR (terminated 2024), and a NVIDIA/Mercedes jointly developed software stack, with no Mobileye component named.³²³ Conclusion: No public evidence identified of Mercedes-Benz Group AG using Mobileye technology in current production vehicles or Drive Pilot. Early-generation Mobileye EyeQ camera chips were widely supplied across the European industry pre-2017, but no Mercedes-Benz-specific production contract for Mobileye cameras was surfaced in live sources.

Valens / Mobileye supply-chain adjacency: In September 2024, Valens announced three MIPI A-PHY (VA7000 series) design wins with “leading European automotive OEMs” for models with Start of Production in 2026, in partnership with Mobileye; an analyst note named Mercedes-Benz among the Valens wins.²⁴²⁵²⁶ This is a second-order adjacency - Valens (Israeli) supplies the physical-layer chip carrying Mobileye (Israeli) sensor data in unnamed European OEM vehicles - but the specific OEM identities were not publicly confirmed by Mercedes-Benz Group AG directly.

MB.OS and Drive Pilot: Mercedes-Benz previewed its proprietary vehicle operating system MB.OS in February 2023, built around NVIDIA DRIVE Orin and a jointly developed software stack; Drive Pilot (SAE Level 3) was paused for the 2026 model year, with the 2026 S-Class deploying a Level 2++ system branded MB.Drive Assist Pro.²⁷²⁸ No Israeli-origin AI components were identified in Drive Pilot or MB.OS documentation, and no public evidence identified of Mercedes-Benz using Cognata, Foretellix, or other Israeli-domiciled AI/simulation vendors in its autonomous-driving programme.

Technology Ecosystem & R&D Footprint

Mercedes-Benz Research & Development Tel Aviv Ltd. (MBRD Tel Aviv) - confirmed active Israeli R&D presence. Mercedes-Benz (then Daimler AG) formally opened its Research & Development centre in Tel Aviv on 16 November 2017 with an initial staff of 25; it is one of Mercedes-Benz’s global R&D locations and maintains its own LinkedIn company page (MBRD-TLV), and the Mercedes-Benz Group careers site lists “Mercedes-Benz Research & Development Tel Aviv Ltd.” as an active location.^1213293031 The centre’s stated mandate is digital vehicle/mobility services, cybersecurity research, biometric authentication, connected-car navigation, and startup-ecosystem scouting, working with Israeli university and high-tech partners.¹³³² Mercedes-Benz is listed as a corporate connection on Startup Nation Finder, and Gauzy Ltd. was accepted into a Mercedes-Benz corporate accelerator.³³¹⁶ No public evidence identified of MBRD Tel Aviv being closed, downsized, or relocated since its 2017 opening.

Civil Society Scrutiny & Regulatory History

BDS-aligned civil-society groups have listed Mercedes-Benz as a target for consumer-pressure campaigns citing its Tel Aviv R&D centre, Valens and Gauzy supply relationships, and broader Israeli-tech-ecosystem engagement.³⁴³⁵ Mercedes-Benz published a statement specifically rebutting claims that it had made donations to any military organisation, confirming a €1 million donation to civilian humanitarian-aid organisations (United Hatzalah, a volunteer emergency medical service, and the German Red Cross) in the context of the October 2023 conflict.³⁶ No public evidence identified of EU, German, or US regulatory enforcement actions against Mercedes-Benz Group specifically in relation to its Israel-linked technology supply chains or data practices.

End Notes