Company Developing Self-Driving Car To Call Strip District Home

PITTSBURGH (AP/KDKA) - A company that is helping Ford develop a self-driving car says it will locate its headquarters in Pittsburgh.

"The Strip District in particular, but Pittsburgh, have become the worldwide leader in AI -- artificial intelligence -- and autonomous manufacturing," said Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto.

Uber has been testing self-driving cars in the city since September.

Argo AI's co-founder and CEO, Bryan Salesky, announced Thursday that the company's headquarters will be in Pittsburgh's Strip District.

Ford announced earlier this month that it would invest $1 billion in the company over the next five years. The automaker hopes to bring an autonomous car to market in 2021.

Salesky and co-founder Peter Rander are alumni of Carnegie Mellon University's robotics program. Salesky reportedly insisted that Ford locate the company in Pittsburgh.

Sources tell KDKA the company will be operating out of the Crane Building on Railroad Street.

As part of announcing the new headquarters, Salesky wrote: "just as Carnegie's steel empire transformed a country's infrastructure, a new generation in Pittsburgh is working to transform traditional industries such as transportation, automotive, medicine and other fields."

"Pittsburgh can be a leader for this entire world," said Mayor Peduto. "An autonomous manufacturing center, making machines that will be working throughout this world."

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By the end of 2017, Argo plans to hire more than 200 workers in the company's headquarters and at sites in Michigan and California.

(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)