Argo.ai Shuts Down - What Will Happen To Its LiDAR Unit?

June 2020: Volkswagen will invest USD 2.6 billion in capital and assets in Ford's self-driving unit ... [ ] Argo AI to market new-technology vehicles in the United States and Europe. Argo.ai, an autonomous vehicle (AV) unicorn, announced on October 26, 2022, that it would terminate operations across its locations in Pittsburgh, San Francisco, New Jersey and Munich. It impacts roughly 2100 employees and, more importantly, puts into focus the feasibility and business model for autonomous transportation on public roads. The company was founded in 2013 by alums of the 2006 DARPA Grand Challenge, Google, and Uber AV initiatives and secured significant backing and funding from Ford in 2017 ($1B) and later from Volkswagen in 2020 ($2.5B). Both investments occurred under the auspices of earlier CEOs, who have since been replaced (Ford CEO Jim Hacket in 2020 and Volkswagen CEO Herbert Deiss in 2022). It is unsurprising that new management saw things differently and did not want to inherit their predecessor's strategic bets.