As Argo AI shuts down, will its driverless technology leave Austin's streets?
Argo AI, a technology company that has been testing its driverless car platoform in Austin, is shutting down.
The Pittsburgh-based company has been operating in Central Texas since 2019 in partnership with Ford Motor Company. Ford has been deploying prototypes in Austin to establish the city as a proving ground for autonomous vehicle technology.
“In coordination with our shareholders, the decision has been made that Argo AI will not continue on its mission as a company. Many of the employees will receive an opportunity to continue work on automated driving technology with either Ford or Volkswagen, while employment for others will unfortunately come to an end,” Argo AI said in a written statement.
Argo AI is being absorbed into its two biggest backers, Ford and Volkswagen. Argo AI has more than 2,000 employees in the U.S. and in Europe.
More:Did you know fully driverless cars are now tooling about on Austin roads?
Ford and Volkswagen have cooled on their investment in Argo AI. In a recent shareholder report, Ford CEO Jim Farley suggested the company could choose to acquire autonomous vehicle technology, rather than creating it internally.
Volkswagen has also said it will no longer invest in Argo AI. Instead, it plans to use its software unit Cariad to develop automated and autonomous driving in partnership with Bosch and Horizon Robotics.
As of last year, Argo AI had a team of about 40 employees in Austin for its self-driving business operations and testing team. It also had an autonomous vehicle terminal in East Austin that served as a base for the fleet, and the company said it planned to build a command center near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The company did not comment on how many employees it currently has in Central Texas, how many would be affected or what might become of its Austin offices.
As of last year, Ford also had a fleet of 30 self-driving Fusions that use Argo AI technology that drive in East Austin, the South Congress area and downtown, including near the University of Texas campus. The vehicles used three-dimensional high-resolution maps of Austin's street environment built by Argo AI to navigate. This includes detailed information such as lane geometry, sidewalk and bike lane locations, speed limits and landmarks.
More:You can now take a driverless Lyft in Austin. Here's what you need to know
Argo AI has also been in partnerships with Lyft and Walmart in the Austin area. Last year, Argo AI said self-driving cars would be delivering Walmart orders in a defined area, primarily near the Walmart store on East Ben White Boulevard.
Argo AI did not comment on the impact the shutdown would have on either partnership, and Walmart did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Lyft, however, confirmed that it would no longer offer a self-driving option in Austin. The company had only been offering that option since September. Lyft had previously said it planned to scale up to at least 1,000 autonomous vehicles on its network over the next five years across multiple markets.
Lyft said it will continue working on autonomous vehicle options through other partners.
“Argo AI has been a great partner and we’ve learned a lot from each other. This development does not impact Lyft’s autonomous strategy. We will continue working with our other partners to advance the safety and commercialization of AV technology," the company said said in a written statement.
Driverless vehicles are still likely to be seen on Austin roads. Cruise, a San Franscisco based autonomous vehicle company, recently said it planned to offer its service to Austin and Phoenix.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: As Argo AI shuts down, will its driverless tech leave Austin's streets?
