Ford invests USD 1B in artificial intelligence company - Auto Industry News

Ford Motor Company heightens its efforts to pave the way for autonomous vehicles by making a five-year, US$ 1-billion-dollar investment in startup artificial intelligence company Argo AI. This strategic move makes the Detroit automaker the majority stakeholder of Argo AI while also putting them a step ahead in the competition to develop and produce self-driving vehicles by 2021. Seeking ways to make transportation safer by combining advancements in computer science, robotics and artificial intelligence, Argo AI was founded by former Google and Uber leaders and is composed of experienced roboticists and engineers led by Argo AI founders Bryan Salesky, company CEO, and Peter Rander, company COO who are both alumni of Carnegie Mellon National Robotics Engineering Center. The team from Argo AI will support the machine-learning software developed of Ford's autonomous vehicle development team by providing the robotics talent and expertise in order to achieve a fully functioning self-driving vehicle. Ford will spearhead the development of the autonomous vehicle hardware platform, systems integration, manufacturing, exterior and interior design, and regulatory policy management while Argo AI develops and deploys the latest advancements in artificial intelligence, machine learning and computer vision to help build safe and efficient self-driving vehicles.