Ford Motor Company is investing $1 billion during the next five years in an artificial intelligence company to develop a virtual driver system for its autonomous vehicle expected to launch in 2021. Ford also hopes to potentially license that system to other companies.
Ford made the announcement on Friday it was investing in Pittsburgh, PA-based Argo AI, which was founded by former Google and Uber leaders. Ford plans to invest the money in an effort to bring together some of the most experienced roboticists and engineers working autonomously from inside and outside of Ford, according to a Ford Motor Company statement.
Founded by CEO Bryan Salesky and COO Peter Rander, AI’s founders are both Carnegie Mellon National Robotics Engineering Center’s alumni and former leaders on the self-driving car teams. Argo AI will join forces with Ford’s autonomous vehicle software development effort to strengthen the commercialization of self-driving cars.
“The next decade will be defined by the automation of the automobile, and autonomous vehicles will have as significant an impact on society as Ford’s moving assembly line did 100 years ago,” said Ford President and CEO Mark Fields in a statement. “As Ford expands to be an auto and a mobility company, we believe that investing in Argo AI will create significant value for our shareholders by strengthening Ford’s leadership in bringing self-driving vehicles to market in the near term and by creating technology that could be licensed to others in the future.”
Ford announced last August its intention to deliver a fully autonomous vehicle for ride-sharing in 2021, along with investments in new tech companies and doubling its Silicon Valley team. Last week’s announcement is another step toward the company’s goal.
“Working together with Argo AI gives Ford a distinct competitive advantage at the intersection of the automotive and technology industries,” said Raj Nair, Ford executive vice president, Global Product Development, and chief technical officer in the company’s statement. “This open collaboration is unlike any other partnership – allowing us to benefit from combining the speed of a startup with Ford’s strengths in scaling technology, systems integration and vehicle design.”
In January 2015, Ford opened a research and innovation center in Palo Alto, CA, to accelerate its development of technologies and experiments in connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, customer experience and big data. That same month, the company introduced Ford Smart Mobility at the 2015 International Consumer Electronic Show.
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At the time, Ford announced its first fully autonomous vehicle would be a Society of Automotive Engineers-defined level 4-capable vehicle. Those plans were to design it to operate without a steering wheel, gas or brake pedal, for use in commercial mobility services such as ride sharing and ride hailing within geo-fenced areas and be available in high volumes.
“We are at an inflection point in using artificial intelligence in a wide range of applications, and the successful deployment of self-driving cars will fundamentally change how people and goods move,” said Salesky in Ford’s announcement. “We are energized by Ford’s commitment and vision for the future of mobility, and we believe this partnership will enable self-driving cars to be commercialized and deployed at scale to extend affordable mobility to all.”
