Two rivals in the race to mass-produce an all-electric aircraft said on Thursday that they had agreed to collaborate and settled a trade-secrets lawsuit that one rival, Wisk Aero, had filed against the other, Archer Aviation.
Archer said it, in turn, would exclusively use Wisk’s self-flying technology in future aircraft.
Both Wisk and Archer are developing small electric aircraft that can take off vertically, like helicopters, but fly like airplanes.
Each is being designed to carry four passengers short distances, but Archer’s will initially have a pilot while Wisk is working toward autonomous flight.
Boeing said in a statement that its investment in Archer would “support the potential integration of Wisk’s autonomous technology in future variants of Archer’s aircraft, pursuant to Wisk’s exclusive right to be their autonomy provider.”
Persons:
Archer, Archer’s
Organizations:
Wisk, Archer Aviation, Boeing
Locations:
Archer