Ford CEO Jim Farley enters The Fox Garage to talk about the company's increasing production, the launch of its new semi-automated driving tech division Latitude AI and his favorite Mustang. Ford disbanded its Argo AI self-driving car joint venture with Volkswagen last year, but now it's getting back into autonomy … a bit. The automaker has launched a new subsidiary, called Latitude AI, that's aimed at developing semi-autonomous advanced driver assistance systems that could be on the road soon. Ford already offers the hands-free BlueCruise system, which uses cameras, radar, GPS and highly accurate maps that allow it to control a car within a highway lane by itself as long as the driver is watching the road and ready to take over in case of emergency. Facial recognition technology ensures that they are.

Ford knows you do -- and the company is doubling down on developing automated driving technology to help make traffic a little more tolerable. Today, Ford announced the creation of Latitude AI, a wholly owned subsidiary that aims to make driving less stressful, specifically in "bumper-to-bumper traffic or on long stretches of highway." The idea seems to be to develop a more advanced version of Ford BlueCruise -- but without sensors that warn drivers to pay attention if their eyes wander from the road. Ford's announcement instead imagines the system giving drivers an "eyes-off-the-road" experience that can give them "some of their day back." This isn't the first time Ford has spun off part of its company to focus on automation.

There are many reasons robotics companies fail. From an ill-conceived idea to poor execution or the inability to raise funding, building and running a sustainable robotics company is challenging. This is never a fun recap to write. We don't want to see startups fail, but inevitably many do. The last couple of years have been especially difficult thanks to a global pandemic, economic uncertainties and ongoing supply chain issues.

Sony and Honda have partnered to create an electric vehicle equipped with the latest digital content, which they say will give them an edge in the growing EV market. The Japanese companies launched Sony Honda Mobility in September and aim to produce vehicles by 2025. A prototype electric SUV was presented in January presentation and it showed off gaming capabilities. The prototype SUV had the ability to connect to a remote Playstation console and passengers could play either on the vehicle's front panoramic screen or on individual rear-seat displays. Sony Honda Mobility plans on using those features and Sony's vast entertainment technology to compete against leading EV companies such as Tesla.

The road to driverless cars has been a long and winding one. Look no further than the Oct. 26 news that Argo AI, the autonomous vehicle company backed by Ford Motors and Volkswagen, would be shutting down. Only a few weeks earlier, Argo AI had launched a partnership with Lyft to offer supervised autonomous rides around Austin. It had previously announced a partnership with Walmart to carry out deliveries. The company, which began operations in Austin in 2019, had about 20 vehicles as of October that could be seen around town.

Ford and VW-backed'Argo AI', the autonomous vehicle technology company, is shutting down. The company, which was once hailed as the leader of autonomous driving systems, failed to attract other investors and will now have a part of its resources absorbed by two of its primary investors. In 2017, Ford invested $1 billion in Argo AI eyeing autonomous vehicle technology to be available for commercial use by 2021. But, with heavy cash burn and technology still a "long way off", the company's priorities seemed to have changed. Motor Company also said that there is "potential for attracting revenue streams tied to L3" and that the company will use its resources in deploying the L3 BlueCruise System. Another report pointed out that Ford's investment in Argo AI came at a time when there was a huge hype around autonomous vehicle technology which was still at a nascent stage.

AI-powered self-driving cars got kicked to the curb, with the shuttering of Argo AI. Big Tech had a tough time, with earnings wipeouts for Amazon, Microsoft and Google. And Meta's big bet on the metaverse has the company in free fall, at least for now. However, none of that negative-nellie news seems to stop the FOMO – the fear of missing out – at least in the world of AI. This time the hyped-up anxiety is not about autonomous cars (the "not" in the Hot or Not), but generative AI – a suddenly-sexy sector described with words like "miraculous," "transformative" and "a coming-out party" [subscription required].

Argo AI, a technology company that has been testing its driverless car platoform in Austin, is shutting down. The Pittsburgh-based company has been operating in Central Texas since 2019 in partnership with Ford Motor Company. Ford has been deploying prototypes in Austin to establish the city as a proving ground for autonomous vehicle technology. "In coordination with our shareholders, the decision has been made that Argo AI will not continue on its mission as a company. Many of the employees will receive an opportunity to continue work on automated driving technology with either Ford or Volkswagen, while employment for others will unfortunately come to an end," Argo AI said in a written statement.

Argo AI, the self-driving startup backed by Ford and Volkswagen, is shutting down, The Verge has learned. Employees were notified that an announcement would be made late in the day Wednesday. The company, which was founded by veterans of Google and Uber's self-driving car projects, has lost the financial support of Ford and VW, a source said. And according to TechCrunch, the company's resources will be absorbed by both automakers. Argo is estimated to have around 2,000 employees, though it did announce a round of layoffs earlier this year.

Welcome to Episode 97 of The Robot Report Podcast, which brings conversations with robotics innovators straight to you. This week, cohosts Steve Crowe and Mike Oitzman discuss the news this week about the shutdown of autonomous driving technology company Argo AI. The company is being dissolved and the technology and team members are going to be distributed to leading funders FORD and VW. Finally this week, Mike speaks with Peter Chen, CEO of Covariant.AI, about the company's new RaaS solution, CovariantOne, which is built on service level agreements (SLAs) for the performance of the Covariant warehousing solution. If you would like to be a guest on an upcoming episode of the podcast, or if you have recommendations for future guests or segment ideas, contact Steve Crowe or Mike Oitzman.