Here’s What’s Happening at Latitude, Ford’s New Autonomy Subsidiary
The people may be the same, but the end-game is a lot closer.
It strikes me that only in the modern automotive industry can the words "autonomy subsidiary" not be a total oxymoron, but it isn't just the lexicography of the situation that's causing confusion over at the Blue Oval.
Ford rather abruptly (at least from an outsider's perspective) pulled the plug on another autonomy-focused subsidiary, Argo AI, late last year. It seemed a bit curious to then, less than six months later, spin up a new one: Latitude AI.
For a feature at TechCrunch that's just published this morning, I got a chance to speak with Latitude's CEO, Sammy Omari. While the topic of the day was how Ford's hands-off ADAS system BlueCruise is progressing, the real question on my mind was, "So, what's the deal with Latitude, anyway?"
The answer is not in the technology (though that differs) nor the staff (most of which was picked up from Argo). The difference, as it turns out, is the end-game:
"Argo was all about level four robotaxis," Omari told me. With Latitude, the goal is level three, eyes-off autonomy on consumer vehicles. Omari said Ford has "a very clear path towards how we can build this from a technology standpoint." That’s a big change from the level four or five stuff robotaxi stuff, which seemed perpetually two years away.
More significantly, Latitude also has a path towards profitability, Omari said: "The moment where people can get their eyes off the road, this is a massive game-changer… People will be willing to pay for that – quite a substantial amount."
I hope you'll head on over to TechCrunch, where you can read the rest of my conversation with Omari, including details on how Ford is accelerating the development and, crucially, the deployment of BlueCruise with a real focus on consumer feedback.