By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co has withdrawn a petition seeking approval from U.S. regulators to deploy up to 2,500 self-driving vehicles annually without required human controls, according to a letter made public Thursday.

The automaker told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration it was no longer seeking approval for the petition it filed in July 2021 citing its decision to close its self-driving venture Argo AI last year.

“As evidenced by the planned shutdown of our ADS partner Argo AI, we believe the road to fully autonomous vehicles, at scale, with a profitable business model, will be a long one,” Ford said in its Feb. 13 letter, adding it was “more prudent” to focus on other technologies that “do not require an exemption.”