Leading electric aviation company Joby Aviation said it has acquired the autonomy division from Xwing, an aviation startup that’s been working on pilotless flight projects for several years. The terms of the deal, which involve an amount of Joby stock, were not disclosed. Joby’s electric air taxis are still a couple years away from launch, but the company says it wants to position itself to take advantage of autonomous flight when the technology is ready for commercial application.
In 2021, the company acquired Inras GmbH, a company developing lightweight, high-performance radar sensor technology. And earlier this year, Joby signed a deal to launch an air taxi service in Dubai in 2026. The company recently performed a few exhibition flights in Manhattan and plans to start flying commercial passengers in cities like New York and Los Angeles in 2025.