Michigan's Bid to Be the Next Silicon Valley

Automakers and government are combining to make the state a hub of advanced technology

-  JAK LINGEMAN

For years u.s. automakers have been putting lots of money into developing digital technology, ranging from drivetrains and batteries for electric vehicles to a broad range of hardware and software connecting cars to the internet and to make them self-driving. Increasingly that money is being invested close to U.S. automakers ancestral home. Ford Motor Company, General Motors (GM) and Stellantis, the multinational whose 14 brands include Chrysler and Jeep, have all funded mobility and software engineering projects in Michigan lately.

Silicon Valley has notice d .Christ ian D. Malesic, president/CEO of the Silicon Valley Central Chamber of Commerce, says “We’re still number one in angel investors.... But I can also see the tech industry of Michigan expanding, especially as the car and computer start to blend even more.”

Previously, a lot of Detroit money had gone to Silicon Valley and other traditional tech hubs. Ford’s Palo Alto-based Greenfield Labs, for example, was established in 2016 to collaborate with local startups and help them bring their auto-related ideas closer to production. In 2017, Ford invested $1 billion in Pittsburgh-based autonomous driving company Argo AI, alongside investments from Volkswagen and ride share company Lyft. (Last year, Argo AI shut down, with Ford and VW absorbing its tech and employees).

Recently Ford has turned its funding attention to Michigan with major investments in the downtown Detroit area, focusing on building a creative and technological base of operations near its home in Dearborn. The com

pany spent $90 million buying the Michigan Central Station in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit in 2018 with plans to turn it into a hub of mobility, automation and electrifica