Strip District-based autonomous vehicle technology startup Argo AI LLC will shutter its Washington, D.C.-based operations as part of the company's previously announced plans to lay off an estimated 150 workers companywide.
A spokesperson for Argo deferred to Ford Motor Co. for comment following an inquiry into the plans to end Argo's operations in the nation's capital. Ford, alongside Volkswagon AG, has invested more than $1 billion into the startup since Argo's founding in 2016. The Detroit automaker partnered with Argo for the maintenance of Ford's self-driving business development unit in Washington.
"Argo is a critical partner of our self-driving service, and we will continue to support them and work together on developing the self-driving technology that will power our self-driving service," Jennifer Flake, executive director of communications at Ford, said in an email statement. "We learned what we needed to through the in-market testing and continue to test in Miami and Austin."
According to a 2018 Medium post written by Ford Autonomous Vehicles' then-CEO Sherif Marakby, Ford had big plans for its self-driving operations in the country's political epicenter. At the time, Ford claimed to be the first company testing AVs in the nation's capital, and it anticipated launching a commercial service offering there by 2021. The company delayed those plans amid the pandemic, and it remains unclear when they'll return following the company's decision to exit Washington.
"Expanding our operations into Washington, D.C., is an enormous opportunity to understand how a comprehensive self-driving business could be utilized," Marakby wrote in 2018. "The city is one of the largest markets in the United States, with its population growing significantly during working hours as people commute from the suburbs or take the subway. Outside of commuters, there are millions of visitors every year, major conferences, a popular food scene, and high demand for ride-hailing and delivery services."
Outside of the nation's capital and its home in Pittsburgh, Argo also conducts testing and maintains operations in California, Florida, Michigan and Texas, as well as out of its European headquarters in Munich. In May, the company reached the significant milestone of operating vehicles without human drivers on public roads in Miami as well as in Austin, Texas. It's now just one of a handful of AV companies that are doing so across the country.
Argo's workforce reduction of 150 workers is equal to about 5% of its total workforce, which reportedly still stands around more than 1,800 globally, the company said. Argo maintains that its Pittsburgh-based workforce is still at more than 800 workers, which are figures the company has provided previously. According to those reportedly affected by the layoffs who are making posts about it on LinkedIn, many of the roles being terminated appeared to be ones that involved recruiting positions within the company, among other positions.
