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Ford Makes A $1 Billion Prediction That It Expects To Come True In Just Four Years

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Eric Lieberman Managing Editor
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One of America’s biggest and oldest car manufacturers invested $1 billion into a driverless car project, and the company expects its vehicles to have “full autonomy” by 2021.

Ford is partnering with Argo AI, an artificial intelligence company based in Pittsburgh, Penn., in order to equip Ford vehicles with self-driving technology at a fast pace.

“We understand the societal benefits that are really enabled by self-driving cars such as safety, efficiency, affordability, and most importantly, mobility for all. That’s one of the many reasons that we are working with Ford, is that we have a truly united and shared vision for the future of mobility,” Argo AI Founder Bryan Salesky said during a conference introducing the partnership. “The other reason is that we have a very deep respect for Ford and technical team.” (RELATED: Distracted Driving Is A Huge Problem, And Autonomous Cars Could Help)

It is quite an audacious investment for Ford, since AI Argo is only a couple of months old.

“The challenges are significant, but we are a team that believes in tackling hard, meaningful problems to improve the world,” Salesky wrote, according to TechCrunch. “Our ambitions can only be realized if we are willing to partner with others and keep an open mind about how to solve problems.” (RELATED: Uber, Anheuser-Busch Use Self-Driving Truck To Deliver 45,000 Cans Of ‘America’)

Salesky once led the self-driving hardware project at Google.

Ford and Argo AI aren’t the only corporations with driverless vehicle enterprises. (RELATED: Google’s Severance Package For Self-Driving Car Workers Was So Generous That People Rushed To Quit)

Dozens of tech and car companies are racing to introduce the first fully autonomous vehicle to the American market, including Apple, Uber, Tesla, Lyft, Faraday Future, Google, and Mercedes-Benz.

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