Ford Self-Driving Car Release Date News: Automaker Invests $1B in Argo AI to Build Level 4 Autonomous Vehicles by 2021
Ford Motors has joined the ever-growing list of technology companies and automobile manufacturers working on autonomous vehicles. To help them wade through uncharted waters, the automaker has invested $1 billion in a new artificial intelligence (AI) startup.
Argo AI was founded by Bryan Salesky, CEO, and Peter Rander, chief operating officer, both of whom are graduates of Carnegie Mellon University's National Robotics Engineering Center. Salesky previously worked as director of hardware for Google's self-driving car project, now called Waymo, while Rander used to be a robotics engineer for Uber.
According to the press release, the aim of the partnership is to develop Ford's self-driving cars using the automaker's autonomous vehicle development expertise and Argo AI's experience when it comes to robotics and AI software. Specifically, Ford's virtual driver system will entail "machine-learning software that acts as the brain of autonomous vehicles [which will be combined] with the robotics and expertise of Argo AI."
Unlike most companies which are developing Level 3 autonomous vehicles, wherein the autonomous driving system operates with the expectation that human drivers are still able to intervene when necessary, Ford has announced that they are actually working on Level 4 automation. This means that there will be no brake pedal, accelerator or steering wheel inside the vehicle and that no human intervention is necessary.
"One of the reasons we're not pursuing Level 3, which is a Tesla Autopilot-type, is we struggle with, 'how do you make a responsible and timely handoff with the driver?' That's why we think going to Level 4 is really important because it really pushes us to really think through how do we make sure this is safe, efficient, and acceptable for customers," Ford CEO Mark Fields told Business Insider.
The initial application of the technology will be commercialization in mobility services like ride sharing, ride hailing and package delivery fleets, and preliminary deployment will be in large geo-fenced urban markets like Detroit and New York.
Ford also announced that the initial focus will be the development of the automaker's own vehicles by 2021 but, later on, Argo AI will work on licensing the technology to other companies.
