Ford's Argo Buys Laser System Firm as It Boosts Driverless Car Development

Argo AI said Friday it is buying New Jersey-based Princeton Lightwave Inc. for an undisclosed price, a move that provides Ford with more immediate access to so-called lidar systems that use lasers to create a 3-D view of the world. The move comes on the heels of the purchase of a small lidar startup by General Motors Co.'s Cruise Automation driverless car unit. After spending decades farming out an increasing amount of work to independent suppliers, major auto makers are taking a different path when it comes to creating autonomous-driving systems. Lidar, for instance, is a system that could come from a third-party supplier that may not move at the speed that car companies require. "The component providers are not moving fast enough," Bryan Salesky, Argo chief executive, said in an interview ahead of the purchase announcement.