Electric air taxi developer Archer Aviation responded to a lawsuit Monday with its own counterclaims that rival Joby Aviation allegedly defrauded the U.S. government and its competitors by misrepresenting itself as an American-made company.
The countersuit, filed in federal court, alleges that Joby relied on a subsidiary Chinese manufacturing company to procure critical components from Chinese suppliers with the support of the Chinese government. Archer further alleges that Joby attempted to conceal his “deep ties” to China by fraudulently misclassifying thousands of pounds of Chinese-sourced aircraft materials as consumer goods – labeling them as hair clips, socks and photo albums – to avoid US tariffs and foreign influence oversight.
Joby was founded in 2009 in Santa Cruz, California, where it maintains its corporate headquarters. The company also has facilities in several other U.S. cities and operates internationally in Germany, Austria, Costa Rica and Shenzhen, China, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Alex Spiro, a lawyer for Joby, said in an emailed statement that the company “doesn’t respond to nonsense.”
“Archer’s constant legal issues and poor business dealings left him no choice but to resort to concocted nonsensical theories,” Spiro said. “We’ll see them in court.”
The countersuit comes four months after Joby sued Archer over allegations of trade secret theft. In that lawsuit, filed in November in California Superior Court in Santa Cruz County, Joby alleges that former Joby employee George Kivork took trade secrets with him when he left to join Archer, which then used them.
Both Joby and Archer, which is based in San Jose, California, went public in 2021 through mergers with special-purpose buyout firms. Competitors pursue similar, often overlapping, markets. Both are developing electric air taxis as well as pursuing defense applications for their technology.
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The timing of Archer’s counterattack is notable, especially the language in the complaint referring to a recent executive order by President Trump. This executive order directed the US Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration to begin a pilot program to accelerate the development and commercialization of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. Both companies recently applied to that program, formerly known as the Advanced Air Mobility and Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing Integration Pilot Program.
Wrapped in the American flag and marketing his aircraft as ‘Committed to American Innovation,’ Joby has secured hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from the United States government, including US Air Force contracts, and has positioned himself as a key player in President Trump’s effort to accelerate the integration of air taxis in the United States under his 20th term. Order,” the complaint states.
On Monday, the DOT and FAA approved eight proposals for the pilot program that spans 26 states. Archer won approval to participate in three of them, while Joby landed five of them.
