Ford Motor Co. announced Thursday that it will hire 550 former Argo AI employees to develop a hands-free, eyes-off driver assist system at a wholly owned subsidiary based in Pittsburgh.
The news comes about four months after Ford pulled its investment from Argo, forcing the self-driving tech startup to shut down. Argo had employed about 2,000 people globally. Roughly 700 people worked at the startup’s Strip District headquarters.
The automaker said in a news release that its new venture, Latitude AI, will focus on improving the company’s automated driving technology, including its existing BlueCruise system. Latitude AI will employ staff who specialize in machine learning and robotics, cloud platforms, mapping, sensors and compute systems, test operations, systems, and safety engineering, according to Ford.
“We see automated driving technology as an opportunity to redefine the relationship between people and their vehicles,” Ford chief advanced product development and technology officer Doug Field said in the statement.
“Customers using BlueCruise are already experiencing the benefits of hands-off driving," Field said. "The deep experience and talent in our Latitude team will help us accelerate the development of all-new automated driving technology — with the goal of not only making travel safer, less stressful and more enjoyable, but ultimately over time giving our customers some of their day back."
Argo secured $1 billion in funding from Food shortly after its founding in 2016. Volkswagen AG invested an additional $2.6 billion in 2020. Argo had sought to develop a fully autonomous system that could be used in driverless cars, but it lost Ford and VW’s backing in October. At the time, Ford said it saw more lucrative opportunities in developing advanced driver assistance systems.
The company said Thursday that, in addition to its Pittsburgh headquarters, Latitude AI will operate engineering hubs in Dearborn, Mich., and Palo Alto, Calif. It also will operate a highway-speed test track facility in Greenville, S.C.
