Ford is creating a new subsidiary named Latitude AI, which will be focused on developing the latest hands-free, eyes-off-the-road automated driving technologies for privately-owned vehicles. This fully-owned enterprise will be headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
“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 at Ford. “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.”
Ford says that Latitude AI will be formed by a leading team of machine learning, robotics, software, sensors, systems engineering, and operations experts. They will have the explicit goal of developing automated driving technology for Ford vehicles.
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That will include the development of improvements for Ford BlueCruise, the automaker’s advanced driver assistance system. It says that Latitude AI will help its vehicles take over the tedious, stressful, and unpleasant portions of driving, such as bumper-to-bumper traffic.
The new company will comprise approximately 550 employees who previously worked at Argo AI, a Ford and VW-backed company that was shut down in October 2022. At that time, Ford said that it was changing its focus from Level 4 autonomous vehicles to Level 2-3 autonomy. That means Ford is no longer concentrating on developing vehicles that can operate independently of their drivers. Level 2-3 autonomy allows the car to take over some operational duties, but still requires the driver to be present and capable of taking the wheel in certain circumstances.
Ford’s executive director of advanced driver assistance features, Sammy Omari, will transition into a role as CEO of Latitude AI. He will be backed up by Peter Carr, as chief technology officer, and David Gollob as president.
“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,” said Omari. “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.”
