“Many of the employees will receive an opportunity to continue work on automated driving technology with either Ford or Volkswagen, while employment for others will unfortunately come to an end,” said Argo AI in a statement.VW intends to focus on other efforts and partnerships to develop automated and self-driving technology. The manufacturer earlier this month also announced a $2.4-billion deal to invest in China’s Horizon Robotics.
VW in 2020 finalised plans to partner with Argo AI with a $1-billion cash infusion and folding in its $1.6-billion Autonomous Intelligent Driving unit, as part of a broader alliance between VW and Ford to jointly develop autonomous and electric vehicles. The CEOs that made that deal, VW’s Herbert Diess and Ford’s Jim Hackett, are no longer leading those companies.