Ford has been using artificial intelligence (AI) in a number of ways for years now, whether that be to speed up its production lines or create its new Digital Experience infotainment software, which was developed in conjunction with Google. Ford’s cross-town rival, General Motors, is also expanding its partnership with NVIDIA that will result in the use of AI to help improve efficiency in the production process, as well as develop future tech features. As it turns out, Ford isn’t done expanding its own use of AI, either.
Rather, according to a recent report from the Wall Street Journal, Ford’s director of artificial intelligence – Bryan Goodman – is pushing the automaker to use AI more than ever, as he believes it can result in a big boost in terms of vehicle development and other areas. “I personally think that Ford engineers as good of products as anyone in the world in automotive,” Goodman said. “But I think we have to speed up to be competitive. I look at the Chinese [original equipment manufacturers] and their engineering cycle times are quite fast.”
At the moment, Ford designers use the ages-old clay model method before passing on those designs to engineers, who then run a series of simulations and stress tests that can be quite time consuming. Goodman isn’t proposing that Ford ditch clay altogether, but he does want to use AI to help automate and speed up that same process. To accomplish that, Goodman notes that Ford will utilize a variety of AI models including OpenAI, Anthropic, and DeepSeek, all while preparing its data centers for the next generation of NVIDIA chips.
“By using AI, we can turn [those sketches] into three-dimensional models and renderings and connect that with engineering,” Goodman said. “And we’ve trained AI systems to predict stresses and lots of different physics-based tests that we do in designing and engineering and testing a vehicle, like computational fluid dynamics, wind tunnel drag. One run would take 15 hours. But we’ve trained an AI model to predict what that would do and it runs in 10 seconds.”
Comment
Looking at how fast the Chinese are developing automotive products and I have to assume AI is the reason they are moving so quickly. We’ve been lapped. We need to catch up or be left behind for good.