The company said earlier this year it would spend $1 billion to acquire a company called Argo AI, a developer of artificial intelligence, as it builds a staff of software engineers to develop the brains of its autonomous vehicles. Ford bets $1 billion on self-driving car start-up Ford also has launched a new division called Ford Smart Mobility and Fields has said repeatedly that the company is transforming itself into an automotive and a mobility company. "This is, again, part of us becoming an auto and mobility company," Fields said. "By 2030 -- in the next 15 years -- we expect one out of every five vehicles sold could be an autonomous vehicle. So clearly it's a big business opportunity." Once again Ford beat back a shareholder proposal to restructure its two classes of shares into a single class. Currently, the dual-share structure gives shares held by Ford family members 16 votes per share compared to one vote per share for regular shareholders, according to John Chevedden of Redondo Beach, Calif.