Archer buys Boeing's Wisk, SkyGrid and Insitu to expand beyond air taxis

Why it matters

Archer is buying its way into defense revenue and autonomous aviation before passenger air taxis reach scale, while Boeing retains access to the technology without carrying the subsidiaries.

Adam Goldstein (@adamgoldstein13), Archer Aviation's founder and chief executive, agreed to acquire Boeing's Wisk Aero, SkyGrid and Insitu subsidiaries on Monday, assembling autonomous aircraft, airspace software and a revenue-producing defense operation around Archer's electric air taxi program.

Boeing will receive an equity stake in Archer Aviation and retain access to Wisk's autonomous-flight technology for current and future commercial and defense aircraft, according to a joint announcement. The precise consideration and size of Boeing's stake were not included in the announcement. The transaction requires regulatory clearance and is expected to close by the end of 2026. (investors.boeing.com)

Goldstein is using the transaction to accelerate a shift already underway inside Archer. Archer began as a developer of piloted electric air taxis, but Goldstein has spent the past two years adding defense aircraft, autonomous systems and aviation software. In July, Archer introduced Zee, an aviation-focused AI model, and unveiled an autonomous hybrid aircraft developed with Anduril, the defense technology manufacturer founded by Palmer Luckey (@PalmerLuckey). (investors.archer.com)

Goldstein described Monday's agreement as a step toward building a diversified aerospace platform and expanding Archer's revenue base. That second goal matters immediately. Archer reported only $1.6 million of revenue in the first quarter of 2026, alongside a $217.7 million net loss and $1.78 billion of cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. Boeing and Archer say Insitu is profitable and generates more than $200 million in annual revenue, though the figure includes financial estimates rather than a separately published set of audited accounts. (investors.archer.com)

Goldstein entered aerospace after building Vettery, an online recruiting marketplace. Archer's official biography says Vettery raised less than $10 million before Adecco acquired it for more than $100 million. At Archer, Goldstein is attempting a more capital-intensive version of the same expansion play: combining a core product with businesses that add customers, data and distribution before the original market fully matures. (investors.archer.com)

A former adversary becomes an asset

Wisk Aero gives Archer a parallel aircraft program and a deeper autonomous-flight stack. Wisk traces its aircraft development to Kitty Hawk, the air taxi venture backed by Google co-founder Larry Page, and was formed as a Boeing-Kitty Hawk joint venture in 2019. Boeing later took full ownership.

Wisk says it has produced six generations of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, holds more than 440 patents and has completed more than 1,750 test flights. Wisk is flight-testing two Generation 6 aircraft in Hollister, California, with a design intended to carry four passengers without a pilot aboard. (wisk.aero)

The acquisition also closes an unusually circular chapter in the eVTOL sector. Wisk sued Archer in 2021, accusing Archer of trade-secret theft and patent infringement. Archer denied the allegations and countered that its aircraft had been developed independently. The rivals settled on August 10th, 2023, exactly three years before Monday's transaction. That settlement made Wisk Archer's exclusive provider of autonomous technology for future aircraft variants and brought Boeing into Archer as an investor. (investors.archer.com)

Archer is now buying the organization that once tried to stop it in court. The combination should remove overlapping legal and technical boundaries around the autonomy collaboration, while placing Wisk's aircraft, engineers and certification work under Goldstein's control.

Insitu brings customers and revenue

Insitu changes the financial and customer profile of the acquisition. The Washington-based Boeing subsidiary builds uncrewed aircraft used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. Its ScanEagle and Integrator systems serve the US military and international defense customers.

Boeing says Insitu has manufactured and fielded more than 3,500 uncrewed aircraft systems and operates across 35 countries. Insitu's installed fleet and support operations give Archer exposure to existing defense procurement cycles while Archer and Anduril continue developing their newer autonomous vertical-lift platform. (investors.boeing.com)

That revenue also reduces Archer's dependence on the timing of passenger air taxi certification. Archer has said it plans early Midnight operations in Florida, New York and Texas under a federal pilot program beginning as soon as the second half of 2026. Those flights remain an initial operating step, rather than evidence of a scaled passenger business. Archer's pilot program announcement said the work would include local teams, infrastructure and operating procedures. (investors.archer.com)

Boeing keeps access while shedding the cost

SkyGrid supplies the software layer. SkyGrid develops systems for integrating autonomous aircraft into controlled airspace, including traffic management, surveillance and flight coordination. Wisk absorbed SkyGrid as a subsidiary in 2025 to pair aircraft autonomy with ground-based airspace infrastructure. (wisk.aero)

For Boeing, the structure preserves technical access without requiring Boeing to keep funding three specialized subsidiaries inside a much larger commercial and defense organization. Brian Yutko, Boeing's vice president of commercial airplanes product development and Wisk's former chief executive, said the transaction would let Boeing concentrate investment on its core businesses while retaining the benefit of technology developed across the subsidiaries.

Boeing is effectively placing its autonomous aviation portfolio under Goldstein while keeping a financial interest and negotiated access to Wisk's work. Archer takes on the cost and complexity of integrating three organizations, completing Wisk's certification program and converting a collection of aircraft, software and flight data into products that can share engineering and sales infrastructure.

The transaction gives Goldstein assets across the stack: piloted air taxis through Midnight, autonomous passenger aircraft through Wisk, airspace software through SkyGrid, operational defense drones through Insitu, and a new hybrid platform with Anduril. Archer still has to prove those pieces form a coherent aerospace business. After Monday's agreement, Goldstein has committed Archer to building one before its original air taxi market reaches commercial scale.