Ford Hires 550 in Pittsburgh for New Autonomous Driving Venture

Ford Motor Co. has recently hired more than 500 people in Pittsburgh to work on developing autonomous vehicles after announcing the creation of a new subsidiary called Latitude AI.

The hirees are largely former employees of Argo AI, a developer of software for autonomous driving that had been based in Pittsburgh. Argo closed last year after Ford and Volkswagen AG pulled investment from the startup company.

If Argo’s entirely self-driving car proved too ambitious to develop at once, Ford’s decision shows that large automakers still want phased-in development of the technology, said Audrey Russo, president of the Pittsburgh Technology Council.

“Ford is saying, ‘We’re back in.’ Ford hasn’t given up on Pittsburgh,” said Russo, who described Argo’s goal of a fully autonomous car as “a moonshot.”

Automakers like Ford are now more likely to phase in various features of autonomous vehicles over time rather than trying to unveil a full autonomous vehicle, she said. (Some features