The air taxi race just picked up some turbulence. Joby Aviation $JOBY ( ▲ 6.27% ) has sued its rival Archer Aviation $ACHR ( ▲ 3.62% ) , accusing the company of stealing trade secrets and using them to swoop in with a sweeter partnership deal. Joby did not mince words, calling it “corporate espionage, planned and premeditated.” Archer fired back, dismissing the case as meritless.
According to the lawsuit, the drama centers on George Kivork, Joby’s former head of U.S. state and local policy. Joby claims Kivork was quietly recruited by Archer and, two days before resigning, downloaded dozens of internal files and emailed more material to his personal account. The next month, a strategic partner who had worked with Kivork told Joby that Archer had approached them with a more attractive offer.
It is not the first time Archer has been in legal crosshairs. Boeing’s air taxi subsidiary, Wisk, sued Archer in 2021 over what it called “brazen theft” of confidential IP. That case signaled how heated the electric air taxi space was becoming. This new suit underscores that the rivalry has only intensified.
Both Joby and Archer are racing to bring electric air taxis into commercial service and have landed deals with major defense contractors to bolster their credibility. The lawsuit adds a new plot twist to an industry that is trying to reinvent short-distance travel while its biggest players accuse each other of stealing the blueprints.
And with billions of dollars and first-mover advantage at stake, the skies are only getting stormier from here.