The Ford Motor Company announced that they will invest $1 billion in Argo Al over the next five years in order to advance the virtual-driver system of the self-driving vehicles that will be commercialized in 2021 with technology that they say can be licensed for different brands.In the statement released by Ford Otosan, Argo AI, established by former Google and Uber executives, will bring together engineers and roboticists working in the field of self-driving cars, from inside and outside of Ford.The experts in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence will be led by Argo AI founders, CEO Bryan Salesky and COO Peter Rander.The current team that develops Ford's virtual-driver system will combine the software that will be the brain of self-driving vehicles with Argo AI's robotics ability and expertise. This innovative partnership will aim to present a virtual-driver system for Ford's SAE 4-level self-driving vehicles.Ford will continue to carry out the self-driving vehicle platform, system integration, internal and external design, and production and compliance registration procedures, while Argo AI will strengthen the commercialization of self-driving cars in collaboration with Ford's efforts to develop self-driving vehicle software.By the end of the year, more than 200 team members are expected to work at Argo AI's headquarters in Pittsburgh, southeast Michigan and Gulf of California."The next decade will be defined by the automation of the automobile, and autonomous vehicles will have as significant an impact on society as Ford's moving assembly line did 100 years ago," Ford CEO Mark Fields noted in the statement."As Ford expands as an auto and mobility company, we believe that investing in Argo AI will strengthen Ford's leadership in bringing self-driving vehicles to the market and at the same time allow us to license this technology to others, while also creating significant value for our shareholders," Fields said.