Boeing is selling its air taxi startups to Archer Aviation

Boeing is cutting three of its electric air-taxi bets loose and handing them to Archer Aviation. The package includes Wisk Aero, SkyGrid, and Insitu, and Boeing is also taking an undisclosed stake in the San Jose company.

Wisk has been working on autonomous electric aircraft. SkyGrid is building the traffic-management systems that urban air taxis would need if they ever start sharing actual skies instead of slide decks. Insitu makes high-altitude drones for the US Navy.

The deal is less a clean exit than a reshuffle. Boeing and Archer will share technology, and Boeing keeps access to Wisk’s autonomous flight systems for both current and next-generation commercial and defense work. That suggests Boeing still wants the brains, even if it’s done holding all the companies.

For Archer, this is a shortcut to more hardware, more software, and a bigger stack of aviation ambition in one go. For Boeing, it trims a few side projects while leaving a hand in the part that still matters most: autonomy.