Boeing sells autonomous flight units to Archer Aviation in eVTOL push

Boeing has agreed to sell three of its autonomous flight subsidiaries, Wisk Aero, Insitu and SkyGrid, to electric air taxi maker Archer Aviation in an all-stock transaction, taking a stake in Archer in return and entering a technology-sharing partnership with the company.

Terms of the deal

Under the agreement, Boeing will receive newly issued Archer Class A shares and warrants that will leave it holding roughly 19.75% of Archer's Class A shares, with options to purchase additional shares over the next four years, positioning Boeing as one of the company's largest outside shareholders. Boeing has also agreed to invest up to $55 million in an upcoming Archer funding round and will receive warrants to purchase up to $200 million of additional stock in the future. The plane maker will also be able to nominate a director to Archer's board. The transaction is subject to antitrust review under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act and is expected to close by the end of 2026.

What each side gets

The deal brings together Boeing's work on autonomous drone systems and airspace intelligence software with Archer's push to certify and build electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, a category widely seen as foundational to future urban air taxi services. Wisk has designed, built and flown six generations of autonomous eVTOL aircraft over 16 years and logged more than 1,700 flight tests, while Insitu, which makes high-altitude drones used by militaries worldwide, generates more than $200 million in annual revenue and extends Archer's presence in the defense market. Under a separate cross-licensing arrangement, Boeing will retain rights to use Wisk's core autonomous flight technology in its own commercial and defense aircraft, including in preparations for its eventual successor to the 737.

Archer chief executive Adam Goldstein called the deal "the next big step forward in becoming a diversified platform, rapidly growing our revenue base and bringing scale to our business." Boeing vice president Brian Yutko said the transaction "allows Wisk, SkyGrid and Insitu to accelerate capability development and time to market while ensuring Boeing capitalizes on its investments in these technologies over the past two decades through continued development in our core businesses." For Boeing, the sale continues a divestiture strategy under chief executive Kelly Ortberg, who has directed the company to focus resources on its commercial aircraft, defense and space divisions since taking over in August 2024; Boeing sold its flight-planning and digital aviation unit to private equity firm Thoma Bravo for $10.55 billion last year.

A history between the companies

The agreement marks a notable turnaround in the relationship between Boeing's Wisk unit and Archer, which were locked in litigation as recently as 2021, when Wisk sued Archer over allegations of trade secret theft and patent infringement, including claims that an Archer executive had wiped browsing and download records from a company laptop before joining the startup. That lawsuit was settled in 2023 with Boeing taking a minority stake in Archer at the time. Archer is targeting commercial eVTOL flights by the end of this year or early next, and says the newly acquired autonomous flight technology will support both its urban air taxi ambitions and a hybrid-electric drone it is developing with Anduril Industries.