Argo AI founders launch autonomous trucking startup Stack AV

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The leadership team behind Argo AI is launching Stack AV, an autonomous trucking startup. | Source: Stack AV

Stack AV, an autonomous trucking startup based in Pittsburgh, PA, has announced the launch of its autonomous trucking business. The company seeks to leverage its self-driving technology to improve efficiency and enhance safety in the trucking industry while also tackling supply chain challenges.

Stack AV is led by CEO Bryan Salesky, president Peter Rander and CTO Brett Browning, the leadership team behind Argo AI, a self-driving company previously backed by Ford and VW that closed down in October 2022. Each team member, in fact, holds the same role 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 company with capital, resources and expertise in AI to help accelerate its growth and technological developments. Stack AV will receive more than $1 billion from SoftBank Group Corp.

Argo AI shut down due to a lack of funding, as both Ford and VW pulled their investments in the self-driving company. According to Ford CEO and president Jim Farley, the company’s investment was pulled because Ford realized that autonomous driving technology still had a long way to go before being profitable.

Salesky and Rander founded Argo AI in 2016 as a spin-out from Carnegie Mellon University and came out of stealth in 2017 with a $1 billion investment from Ford.

Now, they’re shifting their focus from self-driving cars to self-driving trucks. Stack AV aims to change the way businesses transport goods by alleviating long-standing issues that have plagued the trucking industry. These issues include driver shortages, lagging efficiency in uptime per vehicle, overarching safety concerns, high operating costs, and elevated emission levels.

“We could not be more thrilled to unveil our autonomous trucking business to the world,” Randers said. “As global commerce continues to become increasingly interconnected, now more than ever businesses have a dire need for more reliable and efficient supply chains, especially in the trucking and freight industries. Leveraging our advanced AI-powered autonomous driving systems, we will improve supply chains for our customers and optimize transportation routes and energy efficiency.”

“As consumer consumption patterns evolve, businesses increasingly need AI-driven, intelligent, and reliable supply chains,” Salesky said. “With our proprietary technology and expertise as well as the commitment from our long-term partner in SoftBank, we are confident we will revolutionize the trucking and freight industries by driving improvements in efficiency and safety and alleviating supply chain constraints for our customers, helping them reach their goals and advance their missions.”

Stack AV currently has 150 employees across its headquarters and 15 states with a remove work/co-working collaboration model.