AUSTIN, Texas — Argo AI, a company that had been testing autonomous vehicles in Austin, is shutting down.
According to a report by KVUE's news partners at the Austin American-Stateman, the company is being absorbed by two of its biggest supporters, Ford and Volkswagen.
The company said many employees would be able to continue their work for either car company, while others would be terminated. Argo AI has been operating in Central Texas since 2019 and has more than 2,000 employees in the U.S. and Europe, per the report.
A recent layoff report by the Texas Workforce Commission indicated that nearly 80 employees in Austin have been laid off.
The Statesman reports that Ford and Volkswagen have reduced their investment in the tech company, with Ford's CEO suggesting the company could purchase autonomous vehicle technology rather than create it themselves.
Volkswagen said it would no longer invest in Argo AI but would instead develop automated and autonomous driving software in partnership with other companies.
Argo AI had already been testing self-driving cars in Austin. As of last year, the company had a fleet of 30 self-driving cars in East Austin, the South Congress area and downtown, as well as near the UT campus, per the Statesman report.
Lyft, which had been a partner with Argo AI, confirmed to the Statesman that it would no longer offer a self-driving option in Austin. Lyft had only been offering that option since September.
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