After investing heavily in Argo AI – an autonomous vehicle technology company – Ford surprisingly shut that operation down a few months ago, choosing instead to focus on Level 3 and 4 autonomy in the short term after it realized that Level 4 and 5 tech won’t be profitable anytime soon. Following this decision, the automaker created Ford Next to spearhead its A/V efforts, and hired around 600 former Argo AI engineers to help in that department. Now, FoMoCo has announced that it has established a brand new subsidiary called Latitude AI, which will develop new automated driving technology with an initial focus on a hands-free, eyes-off driver assist system for next-generation Ford vehicles.
Latitude AI, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the automaker, will be based out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – which, ironically enough, is also where Argo AI’s headquarters was located. The new entity will also have engineering hubs in Dearborn, Michigan and Palo Alto, California, as well as a highway-speed test track facility in Greenville, South Carolina.
Thus far, the Latitude team has applied much of their experience in automated driving, including software development tools and infrastructure, in the pivot to work on advanced driver assist systems (ADAS). These former Argo engineers already have extensive experience with things such as machine learning and robotics, cloud platforms, mapping, sensors and compute systems, test operations, systems, and safety engineering. Sammy Omari, executive director, ADAS Technologies at Ford, will also serve as the CEO of Latitude, while Peter Carr has been appointed chief technology officer and David Gollob will be the company’s president.
Peter Carr, Chief Technology Officer, Latitude AI
“We see automated driving technology as an opportunity to redefine the relationship between people and their vehicles,” said Doug Field, chief advanced product development and technology officer, Ford Motor Company. “Customers using BlueCruise are already experiencing the benefits of hands-off driving. The deep experience and talent in our Latitude team will help us accelerate the development of all-new automated driving technology – with the goal of not only making travel safer, less stressful, and more enjoyable, but ultimately over time giving our customers some of their day back.”
We’ll have more on Latitude AI soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for 24/7 Ford news coverage.
Comments
I hope they fail miserably to “redefine the relationship between people and their vehicles.” I find the concept of networked metal boxes shuttling humans from point to point with senor arrays inside and outside and sharing and selling the harvested data to be Orwellian in the extreme.
These technological advances “for our convenience” are for our destruction. The transportation system is being morphed into a centrally controlled mechanism that will crush individual freedom and choices.
Clearly it’s all part of the globalist cosmopolitan master plan to make you hide under your bed from an unlikely future dystopia.
But seriously, these technologies will open individual transport to folks completely disenfranchised today. Folks with physical or mental handicaps, or otherwise not qualified to drive due to age, or other issues will all be able to move with relative ease.
Traffic will move faster, smoother and safer, so folks will be able to get to places in record time without endangering themselves or anyone else.
I am still very skeptical of the whole ADAS being pushed for nothing more than something new to charge customers for… self/assisted driving and all versions of this tech is not essential in any practical sense.
AI is a reality that will have many unintended consequences, many of which will be expensive, dangerous or both.
Nay sayers that gloss over this concern with their support for the next new thing are the problem.
And NO, this is not a generational shift or any other self affirming belief… rather it needs to be good business.
The comedy of it all remains, if Ford cannot build ‘quality’ product….. new product will not be well received or supported in the market place.
My grandma thought the touch tone pushbutton desk phone impractical, but she lived long enough to use a Motorola Micro-Tac phone.
But if she had not, based on her lack of vision, her concept of an iPhone phone would have been something with a rotary dial.
You’re displaying a similar lack of forward and creative thinking.
Ha… you are as bad sometimes, as those you like to harangue.
Please read again… I question the want/need for much of the ADAS that FORD is pushing only because it makes them money… do I need it, maybe not.
AI is an invention that its promotors will seek to inject into everything they can, the entire auto industry in this case.. an example is how SONY has partnered with Honda…hard to accept SONY would ever build a car, you think maybe other than their tech interests.
Risks are many as ‘Field’ says above … “We see automated driving technology as an opportunity to redefine the relationship between people and their vehicles,” What he omits to say is how it will impact issues around personal responsibility, liability and arbitrary increased costs.
You ignore the fact.. “if Ford cannot build ‘quality’ product….. new product will not be well received or supported in the market place.”
Finally, throwing your Grandma under the bus by denying her right to choose illustrates your complete disconnect with anyone/ anything not of your opinion and is in the simplest terms, your ..”lack of forward and creative thinking.”
You often contribute a great deal only to regress and sound more like ‘stock promoter’ of the lowest order.
Read what is being said, comment on what is being talked about…
LoL, “throw gram under the bus”, hahaha…
The rest of the story … my gram had a single rotary desk phone in her living room. Her apartment was pre-wired for a phone in each room. I had a small supply of factory refurbished Western Electric 2550 and 2500, touch tone wall and desk phones. So one day, I show up with a desk and a wall phone. My proposal was to put the touch tone in the living room next to her chair where she spent most of her time. She swore up and down that she did not want a push button phone. I was perplexed, and thought her a bit stupid TBH bc my gram was amazingly stubborn even when she didn’t know why, it was just usually not wanting to change at all.
So I suggested that I put the new desk phone in her bedroom next to her bed, and the wall phone in her kitchen, with “you don’t have to dial them, use them as an extension and just use them to answer, and you can practice calling from them if you want.”
A few weeks later, I visited her, and she asked me to swap the phones between her bedroom and living room. I asked her why. “How am I going to make all my calls sitting on my bed?”
Same story about getting her first microwave oven. Made my folks return the one they bought her for Christmas (push button) and get one with a rotary dial. Then later complained that it was not as easy to use as my folks push button model.
I asked my dad about this behavior once, and he said she was like this even when she was younger.