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Boeing sells Wisk flying taxi, drone units to Archer
Plane maker focuses on its core commercial and defense units
A Wisk Aero flying taxi at the company's hangar in Brisbane, Australia, in 2024. (Ian Waldie/Bloomberg)
Key Takeaways:
- Boeing agreed to sell Wisk, SkyGrid and Insitu to Archer Aviation while taking an almost 20% stake and forming a technology-sharing partnership.
- The deal advances Archer’s autonomous aircraft ambitions as Boeing sharpens focus on commercial and defense businesses amid industry retrenchment from flying taxis.
- Archer will integrate the acquired units as FAA certification of its Midnight aircraft remains at least a year away, according to the report.
Boeing Co. will sell several of its units that specialize in developing technologies for flying taxis and drones to Archer Aviation Inc. as the U.S. plane maker focuses on its core commercial and defense units.
California-based Archer will take over Boeing’s Wisk, SkyGrid and Insitu units, which work on designing and building uncrewed aircraft, and air traffic management systems, the companies said in a joint statement Aug. 10.
As part of the deal, Boeing also will take an almost 20% stake in Archer and enter into a technology-sharing arrangement, through which Boeing will retain access to the Wisk core autonomous flight technology for its current and next-generation commercial and defense aircraft, according to the statement.
The acquisition “will accelerate Archer’s autonomous and AI initiatives while reshaping its shareholder base,” George Ferguson, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said in a report Aug. 10. It may also give Archer an edge over rival Joby Aviation Inc., which has a partnership with L3Harris Technologies, Ferguson wrote.
Archer’s shares rose as much as 23%, the most since May 2025, and were trading about 16% higher at 11:06 a.m. in New York. Boeing was little changed.
Boeing has been focused on turning around its fortunes after years of missteps and quality issues that led to the ousting of previous management. Rival Airbus SE also paused plans to develop so-called flying taxis last year.
Today is an important inflection point for Archer. With the planned acquisitions of Wisk, Insitu, and SkyGrid from @Boeing, coupled with our recent unveiling of the Archer Halo/Thunder aircraft platform, Archer’s ZEE AI foundational model, and our ACES infrastructure consortium… pic.twitter.com/j7N51ocjPn — Archer (@flyarcher) August 10, 2026
Archer is one of the handful of developers of electric vertical take off and landing, or eVTOL, aircraft that remain after a raft of companies went public in the aftermath of the pandemic and burned through billions of dollars in research and development.
The Trump administration prioritized eVTOL testing in a 2025 executive order on “American drone dominance.” Earlier this year, the Federal Aviation Administration launched its eVTOL Integration Pilot Program to run trials of advanced air mobility vehicles in eight locations.
FAA certification of Archer’s Midnight aircraft isn’t expected until next year at the earliest.
Boeing became the sole owner of Wisk, an air-taxi startup with Google roots, in 2023 as the century-old titan looked to Silicon Valley to expand its stake in futuristic, self-flying aircraft.
