Autonomous vehicle startup Argo AI will lay off 79 Miami employees after announcing the company will shut down and be absorbed by investors Ford Motor Co. and Volkswagen.
The job cuts at the company's local office, located at 6905 NW 25th St. are expected to be permanent, according to a Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) submitted to Florida officials.
The affected jobs include more than 30 AVS test specialists, nine AVS test managers, eight mapping specialists and more.
Argo reports the affected employees will be let go in four stages, with the first group terminated on Nov. 1. Another group of employees will be offered employment with a new company; if they do not accept, they will be terminated by Nov. 15. A third group will remain employed until Nov. 4 and the fourth, a winding down team, could remain with the firm until Dec. 31.
The WARN notice was filed by Argo AI's VP of of People Operations Jennifer Honick.
Just last year Argo AI entered a partnership with ride hailing company Lyft to bring driverless cars to local customers. It launched pilot programs in the Miami area and Austin, Texas to test its technology. The plan was to deploy the automated vehicles, staffed with safety drivers, on the Lyft network as part of a network access agreement.
Ford (NYSE: F) and VW had invested more than $1 billion into the Pittsburg-based startup over the past few years. The two companies will split the remains of the Argo AI and its workforce, sister publication Pittsburgh Inno reports.
In its third quarter earnings call Ford said Argo had failed to attract new investors after the automaker shifted its investments away from the company.
Volkswagen "is working with Argo AI to provide continued employment for employees and to further develop the most promising projects in the field of autonomous driving," the company said in a statement.
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