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Latitude AI will give attention to autonomous driving know-how for Ford automobiles. | Supply: Ford
Ford at this time launched Latitude AI, a subsidiary creating new automated driving know-how. The corporate will give attention to making a hands-free, eyes-off-the-road automated driving system for next-generation Ford automobiles.
This new self-driving firm is taking up 550 workers that had been a part of Argo AI, Ford’s earlier self-driving undertaking that was shut down in October 2022. These workers labored throughout machine studying and robotics, cloud platforms, mapping, sensors and compute programs, check operations, programs and security engineering.
Latitude AI will assist Ford’s strategic shift that got here final yr to focus extra on creating automated driving applied sciences for personally owned automobiles. This separates Latitude from Argo AI, which centered on creating autonomous robotaxis.
Latitude AI’s work will construct off of Ford’s hands-free, highway-driving know-how referred to as BlueCruise, which has already logged greater than 50 million miles. Latitude hopes to automate the components of driving that may be probably the most tedious, demanding and unsightly, it mentioned, like bumper-to-bumper visitors or lengthy stretches of freeway.
This shift can even set itself other than autonomous car firms like Cruise and Waymo, that are each centered on creating autonomous robotaxis, and places itself in the identical ring as Tesla’s Full Self-Driving beta software program, which just lately underwent a recall.
“We see automated driving know-how as a chance to redefine the connection between folks and their automobiles,” mentioned Doug Area, chief superior product improvement and know-how officer, Ford Motor Firm. “Clients utilizing BlueCruise are already experiencing the advantages of hands-off driving. The deep expertise and expertise in our Latitude group will assist us speed up the event of all-new automated driving know-how – with the purpose of not solely making journey safer, much less demanding and extra fulfilling, however in the end over time giving our prospects a few of their day again.”
Sammy Omari, government director of ADAS applied sciences at Ford, will function the CEO of Latitude AI. Ford appointed Peter Carr as the corporate’s chief know-how officer, who will oversee Latitude’s product and technical improvement and David Gollob as president. Gollob will likely be accountable for the corporate’s enterprise operations.
“We consider automated driving know-how will assist enhance security whereas unlocking all-new buyer experiences that scale back stress and sooner or later will assist release a driver’s time to give attention to what they select,” Omari mentioned. “The experience of the Latitude group will additional complement and improve Ford’s in-house international ADAS group in creating future driver-assist applied sciences, in the end delivering on the various advantages of automation.”
Latitude AI is headquartered in Pittsburgh, the place Argo AI was positioned and has extra engineering hubs in Dearborn, Michigan and Palo Alto, California. The corporate additionally operates a highway-speed check observe facility in Greenville, South Carolina.
