Archer Aviation Files Countersuit Against Rival Joby Alleging China Ties, Fraud Amid FAA Partnership

Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft maker Archer Aviation Inc. (NYSE:ACHR) has filed a countersuit against rival Joby Aviation Inc. (NYSE:JOBY), alleging the latter's ties to China amid a theft of trade secrets lawsuit filed last November.

Archer Accuses Joby Of Fraud

The countersuit, filed in California, accused Joby of hiding and then leveraging its ties to China to gain an advantage in the eVTOL sector, Reuters reported on Monday.

Archer has also accused Joby of defrauding the U.S. government and receiving grants from the Chinese government. The countersuit claims that Joby purposefully misrepresented "thousands of pounds of Chinese-origin aircraft materials as ​consumer goods," to "evade U.S. tariffs and foreign-influence ⁠oversight."

Archer Aviation and Joby didn't immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comment.

Joby Announces FAA Partnership

The news comes as Joby announced it was partnering with the Federal Aviation Administration via the eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP). The program would let the company begin operations in 2026 in 10 states across the U.S. The partnership was also hailed by Joby CEO JoeBen Bevirt as a “defining moment for American innovation."

Following the announcement, Cathie Wood-led investment firm ARK Invest bought over 27,759 shares of the company via ARK's Autonomous Technology and Robotics ETF (BATS:ARKQ) and the Space and Defense Innovation ETF (BATS:ARKX). The investment has totaled ARK's stake in Joby to over $51 million.

Archer's Earnings Miss

Archer, on the other hand, reported underwhelming Q4 earnings, when the company reported an estimated EPS loss of $0.26, which missed analysts’ expected loss of $0.24 per share. Archer also reported a revenue of $300,000 while liquidity remained at $2 billion.

According to Benzinga Edge Rankings, Archer scores poorly on the Momentum metric.

Price Action: ACHR surged 1.84% to $6.64 during Pre-market trading on Tuesday.

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This article Archer Aviation Files Countersuit Against Rival Joby Alleging China Ties, Fraud Amid FAA Partnership originally appeared on Benzinga.com