Ford Motor Company has formed a wholly owned subsidiary called “Latitude AI” to develop and commercialize hands-free and eyes-off driver assistance systems. The unit is staffed by 550 former employees of Argo AI , an autonomous driving tech company that was initially backed by Ford and VW but was closed down in October 2022.

Latitude AI will focus on further improving Ford’s existing advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), “Blue Cruise,” and developing new automated driving technologies for its next-generation vehicles. 

Sammy Omari, executive director of ADAS Technologies at Ford, will serve as the CEO of Latitude. Ford also appointed Peter Carr, a former engineer at Argo AI, as Latitude’s CTO, who will be responsible for product and technology development.

The new company is headquartered in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), with additional engineering hubs in Dearborn (Michigan) and Palo Alto (California), and a highway-speed test track facility in Greenville (South Carolina).

Analyst QuickTake: Investors Ford and VW pulled the plug on Argo AI last year, citing the need to shift away from autonomous vehicle tech development to focus on ADAS solutions instead. At the time, Ford noted that the development of ADAS technologies seems more achievable in the near term, compared to developing self-driving cars. Today’s formation of a dedicated subsidiary would likely help Ford to materialize this goal.