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Five year investment period with AI start-up Argo will lead up to 2021 - the date Ford has set for the launch of its self-driving car Ford  has announced plans to invest $1 billion into an artificial intelligence start-up called Argo AI, as the company accelerates development of fully autonomous cars. The $1 billion investment will be seeded over a five-year period, with the marque planning to launch a vehicle capable of driving itself completely by 2021.  •  Self-driving cars: Everything you need to know Founded by former  Google  and  Uber  engineers, who were working on self-driving projects at those companies, Argo AI will be tasked with developing the software platform for Ford’s production self-driving system. Ford engineers are to be placed within the start-up firm. The technology which will be created by the collaboration may not be limited to just Ford vehicles either – the manufacturer says it could be licenced to others in the future as well.  •  Opinion: Ford's sm

David Shepard Toyota's automated driving technology test vehicle on a Lexus vehicle displayed in Tokyo in Nov. 2014.  Photo credit: BLOOMBERG WASHINGTON -- General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. officials will tell a U.S. House panel on Tuesday that automakers need changes to automotive safety rules to allow the deployment of self-driving cars on American roads. "Without changes to those regulations, it may be years before the promise of today’s technology can be realized and thousands of preventable deaths that could have been avoided will happen," Mike Abelson, vice president of global strategy at GM, said in written testimony released Monday. "It is imperative that manufacturers have the ability to test these vehicles in greater numbers." On Monday, Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., and Senator John Thune, the Republican chairman of the Commerce Committee, said in a joint statement they are exploring legislation that "clears hurdles and advances innova