Ford Motor Co. is considering the possibility of taking over at least some of the space in the Strip District headquarters of Pittsburgh-based autonomous vehicle company Argo AI LLC following the announcement Wednesday that Argo would be shut down.
Ford (NYSE: F) and Volkswagen served as Argo's largest backers, investing over $1 billion into the startup over the years that at one point put its valuation at more than $7 billion.
In an email response to Pittsburgh Inno, Ford's Executive Director of Communications Jennifer Flake said the Detroit-based automaker also is actively considering the hiring of many employees from Argo's workforce, which reached about 2,000 workers globally and included about 800 locally.
"All three companies are still working through details on what happens to Argo AI’s physical footprint," Flake said. "On your Pittsburgh-specific location, Ford is interest[ed] in taking over the facility. As for employees, we’re looking at bringing on board several hundred Argo AI employees holistically. We aren’t breaking them out by location."
According to a WARN notice filed by Argo with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, a total of 679 employees will be laid off as a result of the company's shutdown over a period of four phases beginning Nov. 1 and lasting through the end of the year. That included 556 employees at the company's Strip District headquarters on Railroad Street — it occupied most of the 130,500-square-foot Riverfront West building — as well as 73 employees at a nearby testing facility on 25th Street. A total of 50 employees will also be laid off at Argo's test-track facility in Mount Pleasant in Westmoreland County.
In addition to Pittsburgh, Argo also conducted testing and maintained operations in California, Florida, Michigan and Texas, as well as out of its European headquarters in Munich, Germany, the latter of which is set to be absorbed by Volkswagen, which also will employ the roughly 200 Argo workers based there. Volkswagen also is interested in hiring some of Argo's U.S. workforce, though, like Ford, it is not limiting that effort to one area.
Argo's employees will receive six months of paid severance and health care beginning Nov. 1. All Argo employees also will receive two different bonuses, one being their 2022 year-end annual bonus usually delivered in January as well as a transaction bonus to recognize staff contributions relating to company achievements and IP, the details of which are still being worked out by Argo, Ford and VW.
"We are incredibly grateful for the dedication of the Argo AI team, and [are] so proud of our achievements together," a joint statement issued Wednesday from Argo Co-Founders Bryan Salesky and Peter Rander said. "The team consistently delivered above and beyond, and we expect to see success for everyone in whatever comes next, including the opportunities presented by Ford and VW to continue their work on automated driving technology."
In its third-quarter investor's letter shared during Ford's earnings call on Wednesday, the automaker said Argo had failed to attract new investors after Ford decided to shift its investments earlier this year from advanced L4 automated driver tech made by Argo to internally developed and less advanced L2 and L3 driver-assistance technology. Ford reported a $2.7 billion non-cash, pretax impairment on its investment in Argo, leading to an $827 million net loss for Q3.
The letter then stated that Ford will go on to hire "talented engineers" from Argo as the company is wound down as part of Ford's effort "to expand and speed development" of these automated driving technologies.
