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Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wait, so they killed the 550 person AV startup they were funding, took 2.7B loss, and 4 months later hired those same 550 people to resume the same work? Something looks seriously wrong here.
What is the possibility that the decision to kill it was just really bad timing, right before this big "boom" in rapid AI advancement?
All that to say I'm not surprised to see they hired back many of those people. Ford is a large company and Argo felt just like any other team within the company at times.
> Latitude AI – a Ford subsidiary – is developing new automated driving technology with an initial focus on a hands-free, eyes-off driver assist system for next-generation Ford vehicles Not that every company should follow Tesla's approach, but I think it would be great if other companies don't get too focused on their production systems being eyes-off, hands-off. I'd much prefer more people having access to these sy…
Hyundai’s lane keep is so bad that I don’t trust it at all. In the three times I’ve tried to use it, it started to veer off the road suddenly and in strange ways on even the slightest curve. It should be recalled and disabled.
When I was working at Ford a few years ago, many Ford engineers worked very closely with Argo engineers. Sharing code or data was common, they used our internal tools, and sometimes we would go in-person to troubleshoot with them. A lot of their employees had come from Ford, and so they knew who to call and even already had our numbers. All that to say I'm not surprised to see they hired back many of those people. Fo…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hyundai’s lane keep is so bad that I don’t trust it at all. In the three times I’ve tried to use it, it started to veer off the road suddenly and in strange ways on even the slightest curve. It should be recalled and disabled.
No problem with it on ioniq 5. The equivalent on the Kia was disastrous implementation. The one on Toyota is simple but robust as well
Not mentioned here, but in this Techcrunch article, is Ford’s expensive flip-flopping on AV: https://techcrunch.com/2023/03/02/ford-forms-automated-drivi... > Argo AI burst on the scene in 2017 stacked with a $1 billion investment from Ford — and Iater an investment from VW. The startup shuttered suddenly in October 2022 after Ford and VW determined they would no longer pursue AV technology, at least not under the Ar…
Wait, so they killed the 550 person AV startup they were funding, took 2.7B loss, and 4 months later hired those same 550 people to resume the same work? Something looks seriously wrong here.
That can't possibly be the outcome Argo.ai engineers were hoping for, since any stock/options they had in Argo presumably vanished and all they got in the end was a job @ Ford.
also, if a company closes and you're on the brink of having no job, a job "@ Ford" seems like a pretty fancy parachute to me.
> Latitude AI – a Ford subsidiary – is developing new automated driving technology with an initial focus on a hands-free, eyes-off driver assist system for next-generation Ford vehicles Not that every company should follow Tesla's approach, but I think it would be great if other companies don't get too focused on their production systems being eyes-off, hands-off. I'd much prefer more people having access to these sy…
That can't possibly be the outcome Argo.ai engineers were hoping for, since any stock/options they had in Argo presumably vanished and all they got in the end was a job @ Ford.
if the company was not profitable, stocks/options don't really seem that valuable. if the company folds, there's 0 value to them. so it's not like they "lost" anything. also, if a company closes and you're on the brink of having no job, a job "@ Ford" seems like a pretty fancy parachute to me.
Plenty of unprofitable startups have worthwhile acquihire-style exits. But it requires the leadership actually doing their jobs in marketing the company to potential buyers and getting some competing offers. Just because you're unprofitable doesn't mean there's nothing of value. Are there patents? Is the team proven to work well together and ship state of the art product? Are there any customers?
The conversation in this thread makes it sound like argo.ai was basically functioning like a Ford business unit already. If I were an argo.ai team member with stock/options that became worthless when the company's funding dried up, then Ford conveniently shows up to hire everyone after their stakes are worthless, I'd not be a happy camper and would be seriously questioning if argo.ai leadership acted in good faith on behalf of the employees/shareholders.
But I know nothing of what went on here. Just what I'm seeing here on HN...