Boeing Co has invested US$450 million in Wisk, a Silicon Valley air taxi venture that aspires to develop the first autonomous, all-electric passenger-carrying aircraft certified in the US, the companies said on Monday.
Flying electric taxis have been seen as a promising, emissions-free solution to address urban congestion.
However, Mountain View, California-based Wisk’s emphasis on autonomy is expected to push back its development timeframe compared with some rival concepts.
Boeing chief strategy officer Marc Allen said in a statement that autonomy “is the key to unlocking scale,” meaning that “straight-to-autonomy is a core first principle.”
In 2019, Boeing joined the venture, which is
By Jon Hemmerdinger2021-06-03T22:53:00+01:00
Following the recent shuttering of Boeing-backed supersonic aircraft developer Aerion, Boeing’s chief executive says his company lost confidence in the value of its investment in supersonic start-ups.
CEO David Calhoun, however, insists Boeing is committed to continuing support of another start-up, air taxi developer Wisk Aero.
“We evaluated it year in and year out, and we got to a decision where… we didn’t believe in it quite as much as we thought we could,” Calhoun says on 3 June, responding to a question about Aerion.
Source: Aerion
Now shuttered Aerion’s conceptual AS2 supersonic business jet
By Pilar Wolfsteller2021-05-20T00:27:00+01:00
Urban air mobility aircraft developer Wisk Aero has filed a court motion to prevent competitor Archer Aviation from using what it calls its “confidential trade secrets” it claims Archer stole, before the case goes to trial.
It is the latest volley in an increasingly acrimonious spat between the two companies which both aim to make millions in the high-stakes electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) market.
Mountain View, California-based Wisk says on 19 May that it is cooperating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the US Department of Justice on their criminal investigation of Archer. Wisk is asking the court to prevent Archer from deleting evidence, and allow it to inspect Archer’s computers and other storage devices for information relating to its claims of intellectual property theft.