Ford to invest US$1 billion into autonomous vehicle startup Argo AI

REUTERS/Daniel Becerril

Not wanting to be left behind in the self-driving car race, Ford is pouring a US$1 billion investment over five years at Argo AI. The previously unheard of startup is led by Uber and Google veterans. They will be working with Ford’s team to create a fully self-driving car by 2021. The cars will be used for commercial ride sharing fleets. Argo AI won’t be owned by Ford but the company is the largest shareholder. The startup will be focusing on artificial intelligence and robotics side of the system to help develop Ford’s “virtual driver system.”

Argo AI plans to hire 200 more employees to get the job done. A possible enticement when it comes to recruitment is that employees could have equity stake in the company. "They have the opportunity to run it pretty independently with a board, but because it is a separate company or subsidiary, it has the opportunity to go out and recruit with competitive compensation packages and equity,” Ford Chief Executive Officer Mark Fields says at a press conference.