NEW YORK — Volkswagen will invest $2.6 billion into a Pittsburgh autonomous vehicle company that’s mostly owned by Ford as the automakers who were once rivals deepen their partnership to develop driverless and electric vehicles in an ultra-competitive landscape.

The two automakers will become equal owners of Argo AI, and they plan to put autonomous vehicles on the roads in the U.S. and Europe as early as 2021, the companies said Friday.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Jim Beam storage warehouse that burned down, destroying 45,000 barrels of aging whiskey, was equipped with sprinklers and was insured, the company says.

Meanwhile, the famed distiller is still assessing the loss of the bourbon.