American legacy automaker Ford announced early last month the establishment of its new wholly-owned autonomous driving business unit, “Latitude AI.”
Ford claims that Latitude AI will work on the company’s “hands-free, eyes-off driver assist system for next-generation Ford vehicles.”
What’s the big deal?
The concept of autonomous vehicles has apparently started since 1939 or even way before, per CleanTechnica.
However, there are still no commercially available autonomous vehicles today. Given its complexity and safety considerations, the development of this technology is taking longer due to stringent regulations that vary in different markets.
In response, Ford founded Latitude AI, which is basically “a leading team of machine learning, robotics, software, sensors, systems engineering and operations talent.”
Through this, Ford aims to expand its long-time efforts in developing automated driving systems. As of now, Ford’s BlueCruise system delivered major advancements with a record of more than 50 million miles of hands-free driving.
“We see automated driving technology as an opportunity to redefine the relationship between people and their vehicles.
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.”
Doug Field, Ford’s chief advanced product development and technology officer
Latitude AI’s team
Notably, Ford’s past investment in Argo AI was one factor that gave a leg up in automated driving technologies.
Now, the automaker attracted over 550 former Argo AI employees to be part of the Latitude AI team.
With their expertise in “machine learning, robotics, cloud platforms, mapping, sensors and compute systems, test operations, systems engineering, and safety engineering,” Ford will undoubtedly achieve new heights in developing its next-gen autonomous vehicles.
Ford appointed its executive director of ADAS Technologies, Sammy Omari, as the CEO of Latitude AI. Meanwhile, Peter Carr took the chief technology officer position with responsibilities to manage product and technical development. Moreover, as Latitude’s AI president, David Gollob is now responsible for business operations.
“We believe automated driving technology will help improve safety while unlocking all-new customer experiences that reduce stress and, in the future will help free up a driver’s time to focus on what they choose.
The expertise of the Latitude team will further complement and enhance Ford’s in-house global ADAS team in developing future driver-assist technologies, ultimately delivering on the many benefits of automation.”
Sammy Omari, Latitude AI CEO
See Also:
- Autonomous car company Argo AI is officially closing its doors
- WeRide to begin testing its autonomous vehicle tech in Singapore this year
- Geely Automobile unleashes 72 satellites in three years for fully autonomous driving
- Mercedes-Benz to offer SAE Level 3 system, conditional autonomous driving in the US
- Outrider secured a $73 million fund to expand its autonomous yard operation
As for Latitude AI’s facilities, its headquarters is in Pittsburgh, while its engineering centers are in Dearborn and Palo Alto.
