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New Ford subsidiary: Latitude AI


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Sounds like the successor to Argo AI. Ford Establishes Latitude AI to Develop Future Automated Driving Technology | Ford Media Center

 

PITTSBURGH, March 2, 2023 — Ford Motor Company has established Latitude AI, a wholly owned subsidiary focused on developing a hands-free, eyes-off-the-road automated driving system for millions of vehicles.

With the formation of Latitude, Ford adds a leading team of machine learning, robotics, software, sensors, systems engineering and operations talent as the automaker grows and expands its development efforts in automated driving technology – including advancements in Ford BlueCruise, which already has accumulated more than 50 million miles of hands-free driving.

Latitude is reimagining the customer experience by automating driving during times that can be tedious, stressful and unpleasant, such as bumper-to-bumper traffic or on long stretches of highway. The average driver in the U.S. spends nearly 100 hours a year sitting in traffic according to the transportation analytics firm INRIX.

“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."

 

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33 minutes ago, tbone said:

What would be the point of shutting down one company to start another?  

 One you had a shared ownership structure with VC and others that lead development direction, capital expenditures and terms of investment. This is a wholly owned subsidiary that you completely control all aspects of.

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33 minutes ago, jasonj80 said:

 One you had a shared ownership structure with VC and others that lead development direction, capital expenditures and terms of investment. This is a wholly owned subsidiary that you completely control all aspects of.

Fair enough.  I wasn’t aware of the previous arrangement.  

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On 3/4/2023 at 10:18 AM, Dequindre said:

Any bets on how long this one will last? It seems like all of the major automakers' pet projects (AI, ride-sharing, etc.) only last 3-5 years. 

 

That's a good question Dequindre. Autonomous vehicle technology represents one component of the global automotive industry's future, so something like Latitude AI should be in business for the long haul, and a high growth business as well. But to your point, some past initiatives at these companies were cancelled prematurely, like Argo AI at Ford for example.

 

Guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

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Good to see this venture headquartered in Pittsburgh. Great Tech talent from Carnegie Mellon (one of my alma maters) and University of Pittsburgh. So many of these self driving concerns test in California where straight roads and sunny conditions prevail. Pittsburgh's challenges of roads and weather make a suitable test ground for something you entrust to the general public.

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32 minutes ago, paintguy said:

Good to see this venture headquartered in Pittsburgh. Great Tech talent from Carnegie Mellon (one of my alma maters) and University of Pittsburgh. 

 

That's awesome that you're an alumnus of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. That university's Robotics Institute pioneered autonomous vehicle research almost 40 years ago. I agree that Pittsburgh is an ideal place for Latitude AI headquarters.

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2 hours ago, rmc523 said:

Why?

 

A few reasons.

  1. Ford's City Solutions initiative has a vision of "Integrated mobility solutions for a smarter, cleaner, more accessible and more equitable world". Micromobility products and services like Spin are a perfect fit for this. City Solutions (ford.com)
  2. Micromobility overall is a high growth sector in terms of urban mobility and transportation, especially nowadays post-pandemic. McKinsey said "micromobility is the only thing that’s up in usage post-COVID-19. Public transit is still down versus pre-COVID-19 levels. Car sharing, e-hailing, ride hailing, and so on are on the same level, maybe a bit up."
  3. Cities throughout the world are investing in infrastructure for micromobility, like bike lanes
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42 minutes ago, rperez817 said:

 

A few reasons.

  1. Ford's City Solutions initiative has a vision of "Integrated mobility solutions for a smarter, cleaner, more accessible and more equitable world". Micromobility products and services like Spin are a perfect fit for this. City Solutions (ford.com)
  2. Micromobility overall is a high growth sector in terms of urban mobility and transportation, especially nowadays post-pandemic. McKinsey said "micromobility is the only thing that’s up in usage post-COVID-19. Public transit is still down versus pre-COVID-19 levels. Car sharing, e-hailing, ride hailing, and so on are on the same level, maybe a bit up."
  3. Cities throughout the world are investing in infrastructure for micromobility, like bike lanes

 

Every single one of those electric scooters in south Florida were removed years ago with no signs of returning.  All local governments banned them because people left them anywhere and everywhere - middle of the road?  Check, tipped over on the sidewalk?  check, ocean?  check, canals? check.  

 

A press release can say anything.  If they pulled out of the venture, it wasn't worth it.

Edited by rmc523
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2 hours ago, rmc523 said:

 

Every single one of those electric scooters in south Florida were removed years ago with no signs of returning.  All local governments banned them because people left them anywhere and everywhere - middle of the road?  Check, tipped over on the sidewalk?  check, ocean?  check, canals? check.  

 

A press release can say anything.  If they pulled out of the venture, it wasn't worth it.

 

There's been issues with them catching fire in NYC also

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