Archer Aviation, the developer of electric air taxis, responded to a lawsuit previously filed by rival Joby Aviation on Monday and submitted a counterclaim to the federal court, accusing Joby of claiming to be "Made in the United States" while actually relying on Chinese manufacturing subsidiaries and Chinese supply chains, and deceiving the U.S. government and competitors by concealing the source of key components.
Archer stated in the complaint that Joby used a manufacturing subsidiary in China to purchase key aviation components from multiple Chinese suppliers and enjoyed the support of the Chinese government, but deliberately downplayed or even concealed this "deep Chinese connection" to the outside world. Archer further alleged that Joby disguised thousands of pounds of Chinese-origin aerospace materials as hairpins, socks, photo albums and other consumer products through false classification declarations to circumvent U.S. tariffs and regulatory scrutiny regarding the influence of foreign powers.
Public information shows that Joby was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Santa Cruz, California. It has facilities in many cities in the United States and operates in Germany, Austria, Costa Rica and Shenzhen, China. This information has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In response to Archer's counterclaim, Joby, through its attorney Alex Spiro, responded via email that the company "will not respond to these nonsense." Spiro said Archer's "ongoing legal troubles and struggling business operations have forced it to resort to fabricated and absurd claims" and stressed that "see you in court."
The legal battle dates back four months. In November 2025, Joby sued Archer in Santa Cruz County Superior Court in California, accusing the latter of obtaining and using Joby's trade secrets through a former Joby employee, George Kivork, constituting so-called "corporate espionage" activities. Archer's counterclaim is obviously a strong counterattack as the case progresses.
Archer and Joby are both leaders in the electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle (eVTOL) track. Both companies are developing electric air taxis for urban air travel, and are actively exploring the application of related technologies in the national defense field. Both will be listed on the capital market in 2021 through mergers with special purpose acquisition companies (SPAC). Their target markets are highly overlapping and competition is becoming increasingly fierce.
The timing of Archer's counterclaim is subtle. The complaint specifically mentioned that an executive order recently signed by U.S. President Trump requires the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to launch a pilot project to accelerate the development and commercialization of electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft. This project was originally called the "Advanced Air Mobility and Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing Integration Pilot Project." Both Archer and Joby have submitted applications, hoping to gain a say in the design of U.S. air taxi infrastructure and operating rules.
Archer alleged in the filing that Joby had obtained hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from the U.S. government, including contracts with the U.S. Air Force, "draped in the American flag and under the guise of being 'committed to American innovation.'" The complaint also states that Joby is trying to portray himself as a key player in President Trump's strategy to "accelerate the integration of air taxis in the United States," which stems from his 2025 executive order "Unleashing U.S. Drone Dominance."
On the same day that Archer filed a countersuit, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration announced that they had approved eight pilot project plans covering 26 states. In this round of selections, Archer was qualified to participate in 3 projects, while Joby won the participation seats in 5 projects, slightly having the upper hand in terms of quantity. Under such a policy background and market structure, the attacks and defenses surrounding the "Made in America" identity and its relationship with China will undoubtedly add another layer of complex politics and public opinion to this competition for dominance of the new generation of air traffic.