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Ford invests in autonomous technology

Posted on 12 February, 2017

Ford Motor Co has announced plans to invest $1.4 billion in tech start-up Argo AI over the next five years to help reach its goal of producing a self-driving vehicle for commercial ride-sharing fleets by 2021. Argo AI, based in Pittsburgh, was founded by former executives on automation teams at Google and Uber. The investment makes Ford the largest shareholder in the company. Argo AI will help build the virtual driver system, which is integral to the fully autonomous car Ford plans to develop within the next five years. "With Argo AI’s agility and Ford's scale, we're combining the benefits of a technology start-up with the experience and discipline we have at Ford," Ford CEO Mark Fields said at a press conference. Once the technology is developed, executives said it could be licensed to other companies. This is the largest investment Ford has recently made in transportation technology, following the purchase of a minority stake in Velodyne, a manufacturer of laser-based sensing systems for self-driving cars, for $100 million last year. Ford’s chief American rival, GM, also recently invested $1.4 billion in self-driving start-up Cruise Automation, based in Silicon Valley.