New Self-Driving Venture Planned By  Argo AI Founders

There is a new venture between the founders of the now-dormant Argo AI autonomous vehicle startup, which is focused on services such as autonomous trucking and ride-hailing.

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As part of Ford and Volkswagen's Autonomous Vehicle Program, Argo AI was a promising startup in the autonomous vehicle space. Trade Algo reported that Argo AI's founders have formed a new venture in order to develop technologies for autonomous trucking and ride-hailing services, following the company's closure in 2022.

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There is not much information available about the backers of the new Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania firm that has not even announced its name in the public arena. Currently, the company has between 40 and 50 employees and is led by former Argo AI founders Bryan Salesky and Pete Rander, according to Trade Algo.

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It was widely believed that fully autonomous vehicles would be common by today, however, the complexity of the technology has slowed the industry's progress as a result. As well as the technology's business model, there is also a challenge of how to fund continued development of the technology, since the business model depends heavily on revenue streams.

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There is a very good reason why the new startup would want to focus on the trucking and ride-hailing industries, as the technology is more likely to be efficient and cost-effective in these two areas.

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Argo AI had an estimated 2,000 employees at its peak, and it was testing vehicles in several U.S. and European cities at the height of the company's operations. Several parts of the company were sold to Ford and Volkswagen after its shutdown, and some of its employees were absorbed by the two automakers-investors as a result.

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GM's Cruise autonomous vehicle unit, which has been operating since 2013, as well as several smaller autonomous technology startups, will all compete with Alphabet's Waymo in the trucking and ride-hailing markets. There seems to be a waning interest in automakers seeking to own a piece of the autonomous driving market as the land rush appears to have subsided. Instead, they have moved to the sidelines to see who is able to come up with a technology that will work for them. Once the technology is licensed, they will use it in their own vehicles.