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The management group behind Argo AI is launching Stack AV, an autonomous trucking startup. | Supply: Stack AV
Stack AV, an autonomous trucking startup based mostly in Pittsburgh, PA, has introduced the launch of its autonomous trucking enterprise. The corporate seeks to leverage its self-driving expertise to enhance effectivity and improve security within the trucking trade whereas additionally tackling provide chain challenges.
Stack AV is led by CEO Bryan Salesky, president Peter Rander and CTO Brett Browning, the management group behind Argo AI, a self-driving firm beforehand backed by Ford and VW that closed down in October 2022. Every group member, in actual fact, holds the identical position at Stack AV that they held at Argo AI when it shut down.
Stack AV is backed by SoftBank Group Corp. SoftBank is supporting the corporate with capital, sources and experience in AI to assist speed up its development and technological developments. Stack AV will obtain greater than $1 billion from SoftBank Group Corp.
Argo AI shut down as a result of a scarcity of funding, as each Ford and VW pulled their investments within the self-driving firm. Based on Ford CEO and president Jim Farley, the corporate’s funding was pulled as a result of Ford realized that autonomous driving expertise nonetheless had a protracted strategy to go earlier than being worthwhile.
Salesky and Rander based Argo AI in 2016 as a spin-out from Carnegie Mellon College and got here out of stealth in 2017 with a $1 billion funding from Ford.
Now, they’re shifting their focus from self-driving vehicles to self-driving vans. Stack AV goals to vary the way in which companies transport items by assuaging long-standing points which have plagued the trucking trade. These points embrace driver shortages, lagging effectivity in uptime per car, overarching security considerations, excessive working prices, and elevated emission ranges.
“We couldn’t be extra thrilled to unveil our autonomous trucking enterprise to the world,” Randers mentioned. “As world commerce continues to grow to be more and more interconnected, now greater than ever companies have a dire want for extra dependable and environment friendly provide chains, particularly within the trucking and freight industries. Leveraging our superior AI-powered autonomous driving techniques, we are going to enhance provide chains for our prospects and optimize transportation routes and power effectivity.”
“As client consumption patterns evolve, companies more and more want AI-driven, clever, and dependable provide chains,” Salesky mentioned. “With our proprietary expertise and experience in addition to the dedication from our long-term accomplice in SoftBank, we’re assured we are going to revolutionize the trucking and freight industries by driving enhancements in effectivity and security and assuaging provide chain constraints for our prospects, serving to them attain their objectives and advance their missions.”
Stack AV at present has 150 workers throughout its headquarters and 15 states with a take away work/co-working collaboration mannequin.