Ford Motors establishes Latitude AI

Ford Motor announced the formation of Latitude AI, a wholly owned subsidiary focused on developing a hands-free, eyes-off-the-road automated driving system. The car maker says the subsidiary marks a milestone in its shift toward advanced driver assist systems (ADAS) for personally owned vehicles.

The company will also further develop Ford’s BlueCruise technology that allows for hands-free driving on Hands-Free Blue Zones, prequalified sections of highway that make up roughly 200,000 kilometres of North American roads, the company says.

Ford says it has hired approximately 550 employees, formerly of Argo AI, across multiple disciplines including machine learning and robotics, cloud platforms, mapping, sensors and compute systems, test operations, systems and safety engineering.

Sammy Omari, executive director, ADAS Technologies at Ford, also will serve as the CEO of Latitude. Peter Carr will serve as CTO, overseeing Latitude’s product and technical development and David Gollob is named president to oversee business operations.

“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.”

Latitude is headquartered in Pittsburgh with additional engineering hubs in Dearborn, Mich. and Palo Alto, Calif. The company also will operate a highway-speed test track facility in Greenville, S.C.
https://corporate.ford.com