In the earliest years of the push to bring driverless and electric cars to the American masses, the narrative came easily: It was Silicon Valley and its high-tech wizardry squaring off against the old-school manufacturing power of Detroit.
The question of who will lead the development and manufacturing of autonomous and electric cars remains, carrying the weight of who will benefit from the jobs and revenues they create. An April 3 posting on Wired told readers “Detroit is Stomping Silicon Valley.” Two days later, Robotics Trends declared “No, Detroit Isn’t Beating Silicon Valley.”
The answer may lie somewhere in between. Investments by General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. in Silicon Valley operations — and partnerships between Detroit automakers and California artificial intelligence and technology companies — have blurred the lines.
Interviews with players in Silicon Valley show shifting attitudes toward the Motor City.
Christopher Heiser’s company, Renovo Auto, gained notoriety two years ago for helping to create an autonomous DeLorean capable of doing donuts in a parking lot. Now the company is a leader in developing operating systems for driverless cars. It recently drew investment from heavy-hitter Verizon Wireless.
Count Heiser among those who doesn’t buy the idea that one area must dominate the future automotive arena.
“The Detroit versus Silicon Valley narrative has never held water,” Heiser said in an email to The Detroit News. “This isn’t an either-or proposition. The only way automated vehicles make it to scale is for automotive companies to work with technology partners they trust. The tech companies that get it — The complexity, the safety-critical nature of cars — those are the ones helping to make driving safer and more efficient. Bringing all the pieces together is the challenge, and collaboration is the solution.”
Since 2015, Ford has had a small presence in Palo Alto on the Stanford University campus. By the end of this year, the company plans to open a massive new facility for its work on autonomous issues. That will eventually lead to a doubling of Ford’s 150-employee workforce. The expansion comes on the heels of Ford’s February announcement that it was investing $1 billion in artificial-intelligence company Argo AI.
A year ago, GM acquired San Francisco-based software startup Cruise Automation to serve as the centerpiece of its own driverless car research. An infusion of $14 million will be used to create a new development facility for the company in the same area and create 1,100 new jobs in the area.