The Mobility Company Known as Ford is Investing $1 Billion Into an Artificial Intelligence Startup

zip94513 Wrong - Wrong - Wrong. That kind of thinking is what accountants are for. If we are going to progress we need innovation, which entails real risk taking. Otherwise these car companies risk being overtaken by technology. I can't say that I understand what Ford bought in this case (b/c even if read the press release or SEC filing for it, the discussion would be either over my head or purposely obfuscated by management), but I'm sure they did some (hopefully a lot) of homework before they shelled out $1 Billion. Also, I doubt it was "Here's a billion, let us know how it works out" - there's going to be some benchmarks/milestones for releases of the funds.

This right here- the short term, quarter-by-quarter "show me the money" attitude of stockholders is what sinks public companies. Sometimes execs just need to follow Tim Cook's example and say "this is the right thing for us to do, if you don't like it, divest and go away."

@gmichaelj Wrong. Some of you will always think it's about the short term money. What did Ford buy? Absolutely nothing but an idea. They're getting zero return on this investment until the software finds itself in Ford vehicles. Instead, Ford keeps putting itself deeper in debt, because $175 billion on the books just wasn't enough. The billion, if it was to be spent at all, should have been spent making more reliable & higher quality vehicles. So unless you own a Ford or Ford stock, and I own both, you're not seeing the dollars go down the drain the same way I do. Last but not least, none of you are going to be buying autonomous vehicles, so don't kid yourself.

@zip89123 zip94513 First let me say that 3 Wrongs were too much - I am thinking of not only Ford, but of the economy overall where investors seemed to have become overly cautious. This hurts the economy and I think is the One of the reasons for the slow growth we've seen for the last 17 years Second, I don't think its about short term money, I was trying to make the point for long term investment. Third, I'll take your word for the debt level - I don't want to go look it up. But I don't think Ford is over-levered, as I recall much of Ford's borrowing is to invest in car loans and leases (banking), which could be both be carved out of the balance sheet, from an analyst's perspective, if you wanted to just look at ops. Forth, I can't comment on how much an additional billion would add to Ford's quality and how much that would increase the company's market value. But I don't think I have to own the stock to comment on your criticism of the Company's investment strategy. Finally, if you are not happy with Ford's investment strategy then I'm not sure you did yourself a favor investing with them - I seem to recall that Bill Ford has been talking about becoming a mobility-type company for quite a while. PS. I would love to buy a vehicle I could let drive me from Atl to LA while I sleep (30 hrs total trip time) and could skip the 5 hour flight in the sardine can.

@zip89123 Ford's AUTOMOTIVE debt is only about $12 bn. People keep bringing up that $100bn+ number without understanding that it includes Ford Motor CREDIT Co. (FMCC.) www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/03/11/why-ford-motor-companys-debt-often-misunderstood.aspx FMCC's debt comes from borrowing money to lend to consumers, as well as dealerships for floorplan.

@JimZ I'll add that next to no one but folks already purchasing Ford's are going to possibly buy Ford's version of an autonomous vehicle. Ford needs to build up customer loyalty like Toyota, who can make anything and sell it. I also own a Toyota, and they're extremely reliable. I fail to see how Ford will recoup this investment. Ford would have been better off buying in with Tesla's software instead of investing in a 2021 vision.

@JimZ then why the f**k aren't you sitting at Mark Fields's desk?