Ford and Walmart team up to offer home delivery in self-driving vehicles

The three companies indicated that the service will be available on a limited basis to Walmart customers who reside in designated areas of the three US cities.

Tom Ward, Walmart’s vice president of home delivery, said in a statement that the grocery company is “excited” to expand self-service efforts in all three cities.

Ward added that this collaboration will advance its mission to bring products to the homes of its customers “with unparalleled speed.”

Argo AI founder and CEO Brian Salsky said the agreement exemplifies the company’s focus on “testing and developing autonomous driving technology that works in urban areas where customer demand is high.”

The agreement includes the integration of Argo AI’s cloud-based infrastructure with the online shopping platform of Walmart, the largest supermarket chain in the United States, to route orders and schedule delivery to customers’ homes.

Scott Griffiths, CEO of Ford’s autonomous vehicle business unit, described the agreement with Argo AI and Walmart as a “significant step forward” in expanding commercial product delivery.

Ford and Walmart launched an autonomous vehicle pilot program in 2018.

Additionally, Walmart is currently running another pilot program based on autonomous vehicles produced by Cruise, General Motors’ (GM) autonomous vehicle unit. Walmart also owns a stake in Cruise.

Ford has partnered with other pilots for driverless home delivery with companies such as pizza chain Domino’s and Postmates.

In addition, Ford and Argo AI have an agreement with taxi service Lyft to launch an independent service later this year in Miami and Austin.

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