Ford plans to invest $1 billion into Argo’s ambitious autonomous driving projects over the next five years. One of the world’s largest automaker wants to hit the road running with AI-driven vehicles by 2021.
The $1 billion investment will make Ford Argo’s majority stakeholder, and the injection of cash may help speed up R&D of Ford’s lethargic autonomous vehicle projects. So far, Ford has logged just 590 miles in two of its licensed car in California. That mileage is meager compared to Google’s 636,000 miles. The AI mileage tracker may be a bit skewed since only California requires the figures to be made public.
Autonomous technology is penetrating many industries, and its impact on the manufacturing industry is nothing to scoff at. Ford has aligned itself with this perspective of improved efficiency and reduction in human errors.
“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’s CEO, Mark Field.
Argo is founded by Google’s and Uber’s former COO of self-driving car teams, Brian Salesky and Peter Rander.
