Editorial: Don’t take foot off pedal of autonomous driving research
Share this post:
The announcement of Argo AI’s closing was not what most people expected.
The company was born in 2016 out of a massive investment from two major car companies, Ford and Volkswagen. The goal? The development and growth of one of the most intriguing and anticipated intersections of mechanics and technology — autonomous driving.
It was a cutting-edge arena with Jetsons-like potential. In 2020, the company’s net worth was $7.5 billion.
Argo AI was one of the major players in a growing area of development in the region, along with Aurora, Motional and educational research powerhouse Carnegie Mellon University. Seeing vehicles with telltale hardware zipping around streets became commonplace.
And then in August the state announced a $20 million self-driving vehicle testing and training facility in Westmoreland County.
So does Argo’s shutdown change all that? Is the local research and development going nowhere fast? Not according to officials.
“There’s a strong demand for test track space, and I’m pretty confident we will be able to back-fill this facility with another company in that space,” Regional Industrial Development Corp. President Don Smith said.
In reality, Ford’s back-off of Argo likely points to the need for more research before the technology can develop further. A 2019 autonomous Uber crash in Arizona resulted in a woman’s death. The human “safety driver” in the car at the time was charged in 2020. A Tesla driver using that Autopilot system was charged in connection with the deaths of two people in California in 2019. There are definitely important issues to address.
But self-driving technology is probably inevitable. It is the next evolution of things that are in use and therefore a logical area for investment, much like more and better drone uses or expansion of artificial intelligence applications in homes and businesses.
That makes investment in a place for that research and testing a smart idea. This is an area in which Southwestern Pennsylvania is at the forefront. There is no reason to ease up on the gas.