PITTSBURGH (AP) — A company that is helping Ford develop a self-driving car says it will locate its headquarters in Pittsburgh.
Argo AI's co-founder and CEO, Bryan Salesky, announced Thursday that the company's headquarters will be in Pittsburgh's Strip District.
"We couldn't be happier that someone like Ford and Argo are going to be here. It seems like they're going to be here awhile,” said Mike Lee, the president of Strip District Neighbors.
Salesky and co-founder Peter Rander are alumni of Carnegie Mellon University's robotics program. Uber has been testing self-driving cars in the city since September.
In a blog post about the decision, Salesky wrote, "Just as Pittsburgh, and this neighborhood in particular, played a significant role in rolling out the infrastructure of this country, I expect it will again play a major role in the automation of the automotive industry and beyond."
By the end of 2017, Argo plans to hire more than 200 workers in the company's headquarters and at sites in Michigan and California.
Ford announced earlier this month that it would invest $1 billion in the company over the next five years. The automaker hopes to bring an autonomous car to market in 2021.
"We're now being looked at as the global center for artificial intelligence and global manufacturing, which means the machines that will be making machines will be made in Pittsburgh,” said Mayor Bill Peduto.
It’s a new path for Pittsburgh and the Strip District, one that includes the old and the new.
"We still want to keep the Strip to be the Strip. But also there's a lot of exciting new opportunities as the economy shifts. We're seeing that and we're actually epitomizing the shift,” Lee said.
Argo AI will move into its new Strip District headquarters this spring.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Cox Media Group
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