Joby and Archer Air Taxis Stuck in Escalating Lawsuits
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- Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation sued each other last year, with Joby alleging a former employee stole technical information for Archer and Archer accusing Joby of defrauding the US government by misclassifying Chinese-imported aircraft parts as consumer goods like "hair clips" and "socks."
- Archer Aviation filed a separate patent infringement suit in February against UK-based Vertical Aerospace, alleging its Valo aircraft copies Archer's Midnight—both four-passenger tilt-rotor eVTOLs with 150 mph cruising speeds and 100-mile ranges.
- The International Trade Commission opened an investigation into Joby's China ties one month after Archer's countersuit, a probe the source notes could delay Joby's planned 2028 commercial air taxi launch.
- Joby Aviation has cleared all four FAA type certification stages and flew a demonstration from JFK to Lower Manhattan in April, targeting first passenger service in Dubai later this year; Archer Aviation has cleared three of four stages and aims for the 2028 LA Olympics.
- Both companies' stocks have lost roughly a third of their value year-to-date—Joby down approximately 35% and Archer down approximately 33%—as investors price in certification delays and mounting litigation costs.
- The Trump administration launched an eVTOL Integration Pilot Program earlier this year to accelerate deployment, while Joby has aircraft placed at Edwards and MacDill Air Force Bases and Archer is partnering with Anduril on a hybrid-powered military VTOL.
- A prior trade-secret dispute between Archer and Boeing-backed Wisk Aero was supposedly settled—only to be reopened when Wisk asked a court to enforce the settlement terms, per the source.
Why it matters: The leading US eVTOL companies are burning cash on mutual lawsuits just as none has secured full FAA certification and their stocks have shed roughly a third of value year-to-date. An active ITC probe into Joby's China ties now threatens to push Joby's 2028 commercial timeline further out, meaning the industry's race to viability is being slowed by the participants themselves at the moment investors least want to see legal overhang.
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