Why Did Ford Acquire A Military Contractor?

Automaker Ford Motor Company F confirmed Tuesday that it acquired Quantum Signal, a company perhaps best known for helping the military develop software to control robotic vehicles thousands of miles away, Ford Chief Technical Officer Randy Visintainer said in a Medium post. 

What Happened

Quantum Signal was founded in 1999 and operated in "relative obscurity" for most of its existence, Visintainer said. 

Quantum Signal shares its home base of Michigan with Ford, and Visintainer said the mobile robotics company has been on Dearborn's radar "for a while now."

The price of the acquistion was not disclosed in Visintainer's post. 

Why It's Important

Ford is developing a track record of successfully integrating acquired companies into its business, the CTO said.

For example, Ford acquired Israel-based SAIPS nearly three years ago, a company that leverages machine learning to create a visual cognition system for self-driving cars.

"Just like SAIPS, Quantum Signal will play a crucial role in advancing Ford's self-driving vehicle development while also representing the company's commitment to nurturing the talent needed to successfully deploy this technology." 

What's Next

Under Ford's umbrella, Quantum Signal will leverage its expertise in real-time simulation and algorithm development to work on Ford's "transportation as a service (TaaS) platform," Visintainer said.

The acquired company will also be tasked with working on vehicle controls that support the customer experience, functional safety and other vehicle systems, he said. 

Ford shares were down 0.83% at $9.52 at the time of publication Tuesday. 

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Photo courtesy of Ford.