Joby Aviation (JOBY.US) accuses competitor Archer Aviation (ACHR.US) of commercial espionage.

Joby Aviation (JOBY.US) has filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of Santa Cruz, California, accusing a former employee who jumped ship to their competitor Archer Aviation (ACHR.US) of obtaining company confidential information and using it to disrupt Joby Aviation's exclusive cooperation relationship with specific customers. The hearing is scheduled for March 20, 2026. According to court documents, George Kivork, Joby Aviation's former US state and local policy chief, had access to confidential and proprietary information related to Joby Aviation's strategic partner relationships, technical information, and sensitive information valuable to competitors. Two days before announcing his resignation, Joby Aviation claimed that Kivork had stolen a batch of "extremely important Joby Aviation company documents." Less than three weeks later, Joby Aviation learned from a strategic partner that Archer Aviation had disclosed details of the confidential terms of their agreement with Joby Aviation. Joby Aviation stated in their lawsuit, "This is organized espionage, planned and orchestrated in advance." In a statement released, the Chief Legal Officer of Archer Aviation stated that Joby Aviation's allegations are "baseless" and that the complaint "fails to identify any specific trade secret or provide any evidence of infringing conduct."