U.S. auto giant Ford is closing down its R&D center in Israel that developed autonomous vehicles. The center’s entire workforce, numbering dozens of employees, will be laid off.
The Ford Research Center, which was launched four years ago, was meant to play a significant role in Ford’s pursuit of designing smart vehicles. However, last October, Ford and VW shut down their Argo AI self-driving venture, in which the Israeli center also participated, and Ford shifted its ambitions to technology that has a better chance of making money in the short term.
Ford did not reply to Calcalist’s request for a response.
The center in Tel Aviv had included a vehicle lab to support proof of concept efforts and AI work conducted by the SAIPS team. SAIPS was an Israeli computer vision and machine learning company acquired by Ford in 2016. The SAIPS co-founders Udy Danino, Noga Zieber, and and Rotem Littman left Ford earlier this year to found a new company named Muze AI.
At its peak, the center employed as many as 60 people. While the R&D center that developed autonomous vehicles is closing, Ford still plans to keep running its local innovation center.
