Driverless car software company shuts down in Mountain View
(KRON) — A Mountain View tech company is shutting down and laying off its staff. Ghost Autonomy launched as a startup company in 2017 designing autonomous driving software.
Ghost built software for automakers based on artificial intelligence. The company said its platform enabled a driverless vehicle “to understand and navigate the long tail of complex driving scenarios.”
The company announced on its website this week, “Ghost Autonomy has shut down worldwide operations and wound down the company as of April 3. We are proud of the substantial technical innovations and progress the Ghost team made on its mission to deliver software-defined consumer autonomy. The path to long-term profitability was uncertain given the current funding climate and long-term investment required for autonomy development and commercialization. We are exploring potential long-term destinations for our team’s innovations.”
The company’s statement continued, “Thank you to the employees, investors, and partners who helped us bring the vision of Ghost to life. We deeply appreciate your support on this ambitious journey.”
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The company employed about 100 people, TechCrunch reported.
John Hayes, the company’s CEO and founder, wrote about challenges between auto companies and software development companies last year.
Hayes wrote in Forbes magazine, “Auto companies have struggled to develop software over the past decade, both in terms of execution and customer adoption. Consumers are largely disappointed with the new technology features in their cars. Software is actually also hard for software companies to develop — even the giants of Silicon Valley.”
Apple lays off more than 600 workers in Bay Area
On Friday one of Silicon Valley’s largest giants, Apple, filed a WARN notice for its plan to lay off more than 600 employees in Santa Clara. The workers were cut from eight Apple offices in Santa Clara, according to state filings. Apple is headquartered in Cupertino.
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