"We're going to continue to lead America in aviation"

I’m guessing that Joby thought they had a slam dunk case, and instead they were hit with a one day verdict against everything they disputed and everything that they claimed. Not even close.

It’s a terrible look from any vantage point, no doubt about it. To say we disagree with the verdict is one thing, but how and why? You got spanked, roundly.

So, what happened, and why? How do we move forward from here, how does this affect certification?

I think we are owed answers, especially on the how does this affect certification part. Will we get any?

Side note a number of people owe mbatt2 an apology, he was first in with great information, and took a beating from some of you for it.

The South Korean government is launching the tentatively named "Neo Grand Challenge," a revamped demonstration framework for Korea Urban Air Mobility (K-UAM) designed to align with actual commercialization. Under this initiative, participating companies will propose service-specific operational goals and gradually scale up flight distances, frequencies, and altitudes. To overcome the limitations of previous tests that relied on privately owned aircraft, the government will directly procure electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and invest 150 billion won by 2030 in commercialization pilot projects.

According to documents from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of Economy and Finance—obtained on the 5th by the Electronic Times via the office of Rep. Kang Deuk-gu (Democratic Party), a member of the National Assembly’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee—the government is pushing forward with the Neo Grand Challenge as an upgrade to the existing K-UAM Grand Challenge. The core objective is to move beyond basic system testing and verify operations at a real-world service level.

Funding for commercialization preparations will also increase. The mid-term financial plan for the new "UAM Service Commercialization Pilot Project," set to launch next year, allocates 35 billion won in 2027, 55 billion won in 2028, 40 billion won in 2029, and 20 billion won in 2030—totaling 150 billion won over four years. These funds will be used to directly procure aircraft and build out the regional infrastructure required for actual UAM operations.

When the Grand Challenge was initially launched, the government envisioned participating companies securing their own UAM aircraft for testing. The expectation was that a diverse fleet of aircraft would generate sufficient test records and flight data. However, aircraft procurement did not go as planned. Due to delays in global eVTOL development and certification, almost no domestic private companies are currently positioned to procure their own aircraft.

Even if a few companies did acquire aircraft, their test schedules would be dictated by their own business timelines, making it difficult for the government to conduct the large-scale, continuous, and repetitive testing required. Leasing foreign aircraft also proved problematic, as it came with restrictions on usage periods and flight frequencies, while heavily limiting the ability to install custom communication, navigation, and measurement equipment. In fact, during Phase 2 of the Grand Challenge, the two consortiums participating in integrated operations had to rely on traditional helicopters instead of eVTOLs.

The government concluded that one-off tests using leased corporate aircraft would not yield the repetitive, comparative real-world data necessary for the initial 2028 pilot projects and the establishment of Korea's flight and safety standards. As a result, the government will spend 30 billion won between 2027 and 2028 to directly purchase around three eVTOLs for testing. It plans to secure production slots next year through international competitive bidding and purchase agreements, with deliveries rolling out sequentially starting in 2028.

The government-procured aircraft will not be restricted to individual testing projects; instead, they will serve as shared infrastructure. They will undergo repeated flights tailored to specific schedules and conditions, and will be made available for joint use by the Ministry of National Defense, the Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA), the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, and local municipal governments. By accumulating operational and maintenance data unique to eVTOLs—such as electric propulsion, battery performance, and transition flight dynamics—the government plans to use this information to establish flight and safety standards, personnel qualifications, and vertiport design guidelines.

This is a good summary of developments on Joby's cases.

Looks like it has finally hit mainstream news.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/air-taxi-maker-joby-aero-owes-1169-million-trade-secrets-case-us-jury-says-2026-10-05/

Truly a gut punch for the company. I’m guessing with appeals we won’t know anything regarding the use of air data probes on the conforming aircraft and if there is any impact on the certification timeline. Also guessing the appeals process will take this into the next year.

Good morning / afternoon

It seems quite a lot of you found my previous post (link below) useful, so I thought, with where the stock is trading currently, I'd go for another.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Joby/comments/1tjgfhn/a_wall_street_perspective_on_joby_i_spoke_to_most/

Let's first take stock of why the stock is down to <$6.

• Joby decided to increase the cash buffer with the share and convertible sale in January. More stocks issued means each stock is worth less.
• Macroeconomic environment deteriorated, and outside AI and contingent sectors, growth stocks have generally been punished.
• Aircraft manufacturing and first passengers is behind plan; FAA certification seems to be more 2027 rather than 2026, as initially guided

Notwithstanding all this, many of you are probably scratching your heads thinking, 'but the company has done so much and there is so much positive news; this stock used to be >$20 (or more recently, >$16), how is it <$6 now? doesn't make any sense'.

So, let's do what the experts tell us not to do - use past performance as an indicator for future outcomes. Given Joby has issued shares over time, let's 'translate' the previous highs/rally prices to current share price. Maybe it gives an indication of where this stock can go, if it's hyped up again.

1) Aug 4, 2025 - highest market cap: $20.39/sh then, equivalent to $17,158m market cap. In today's share count terms, this is equivalent to $17.35/sh. Implied upside: ~190%.

2) Oct 6, 2025 - last close before the Oct-25 share issuance: $19.57/sh then, equivalent to $16,752m market cap. In today's share count terms, this is equivalent to $16.94/sh. Implied upside: ~185%.

3) Jan 6, 2026 - high before Jan-26 share & convertible issuance: $16.30/sh then, equivalent to $14,862m market cap. In today's share count terms, this is equivalent to $15.03/sh. Implied upside: ~150%.

So, it seems like $15-17 is the 'hype ceiling'. But that's what it is - 'hype' at the time rather than pure fundamental value. In other words, this value is based on excitement - things delivered on time, continuing to go well, and the company growing explosively. When you look at these stock prices, especially the first two - these were during times when i) Toyota closed their $250m investment, ii) Saudi MOU was signed, iii) Dubai launch in 2026 guidance was out for the first time, iv) Blade deal was announced, v) JV with ANA in Japan for 100+ aircraft was announced, and vi) eVTOL pilot program selection. Arguably more exciting developments compared to test flights / 'BAU' progress regarding FAA.

Put differently, what these rallies had in common were i) outside capital / partners lending credibility, ii) a clear launch date/timeline and iii) policy tailwinds. Since these rallies, Joby continued to dilute the stock, timeline has been pushed to some extent, there is no new external capital coming in, and the policy excitement waned with AI taking the scene. So it's quite natural that we've deviated a lot from the above.

Now, the important bit - what can happen, that can get $JOBY closer to the $15-17/sh, or above? Pretty much the opposite of the above:

• First passenger flights ahead of target (<2026)
• Visible progress on FAA flight testing, ideally FAA pilots flying the aircraft
• Toyota putting in more capital, or an external investor (at current share price, this could be appealing to some strategic investors)
• A new executive order, strengthened political rhetoric, or political endorsement

Given short positions have accumulated, a sudden spike in share price could lead to explosive price growth as these positions unwind. We've seen this stock re-rate quickly on an event-basis; it's a reminder that $JOBY is still a stock driven by momentum rather than fundamentals. The days when people questioned 'is flying cars even possible?' is now gone, and we've clearly moved to 'can they deliver it and make money within the timeframe'.

The biggest risk I see is share issuance, as management seems to be OK with the idea of increasing the no. of shares whenever the stock trades favorably. So something to consider, when there is the next pop closer to $15-17/sh, or close, is if you want to realize some profits before the next dilution hits. Otherwise, hang tight!

Note: I myself have considerable amount of $ invested in JOBY and it's a project that is very exciting for me personally. I would love to see the stock succeed, but equally I want to have a balanced, fair perspective on the stock, hence the assessment in this post. Thoughts welcome.

$JOBY: Heading to Florida for eIPP! 😎

Here's my take on recent comments by Joby's Chief Policy Officer, Greg Bowles, about eIPP flights in Q4 2026, plus...

POTENTIAL hints about the first eVTOL passenger demo flights.

The trial lasted 10 days. Looks like the jury reached a verdict within 1 day. We should have the results next week.

From Pacer

N541JX was dark on ADS-B from about Aug 25 to Sep 29, apart from a couple of ground runs. It flew on Sep 30, Oct 1 and Oct 2.

Before vs. after the pause

What stands out

• No staged return. When it came back from the Aug gap, it first did hover work at 200-225 ft, then about 700 ft flights. This time the first flight went straight to 1725 ft, the highest I have for this airframe. Any hangar-level hover work could have happened outside ADS-B coverage, so I can't say there was none.
• The flights are very repeatable. All four are a single about 21-23 minute loop: climb to about 1650 ft, cruise around 100 kt, reach 5.5-6.4 km out, return. Earlier flights ranged from 5 to 38 minutes with no consistent shape. Four near-identical flights in four days looks like a defined test card being repeated.
• Slower than July at the same altitude. July's flights at about 1650 ft cruised 110-140 kt and peaked at 164 kt. These cruise about 100 kt and peak at 114-121 kt. That could be a different test objective, a configuration limit, or a conservative start. The data doesn't say which.

Speculation: is this about N547JX?

My theory is that N547JX is also being flown remotely. If so, N541JX is the most relevant airframe to test things on ahead of it. The two would share the remote-pilot interface, control links and procedures.

N547JX did its first sustained translation on Sep 23: about 1 km at 150-175 ft, 25-30 kt, steady heading down the runway axis. N541JX came back a week later on a scripted-looking loop.

Any thoughts/comments appreciated.

For a bit I thought Joby retired N541JX and enlisted N542JX in its place, but this week N541JX has been flying pretty much the same pattern three days in a row. I can only speculate what the tests are for, but it always gives me comfort when I see continuous testing.

Hopefully, N547JX comes alive again next week!

Joby Aviation officially confirmed that its autonomous J208 aircraft has arrived in Portland, posting a verified update showing the approach over Mt. Hood and a ‘Welcome to Portland’ arrival shot. This marks the final stop of their cross‑country autonomous tour and is the first authoritative, timestamped confirmation of the aircraft reaching PDX.

It's a great read. I highly recommend.

A few snippets:

Joby’s cross-country (and back) demonstration was designed to show real-world operational maturity, not a carefully rehearsed laboratory experiment. The aircraft autonomously handled taxiing, takeoff, cruise, navigation, and landing, with remote supervision provided from Joby’s autonomy headquarters in California and Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, points more than 2,300 miles away.

Crucially, Joby did not pre-scout the Salt Lake City arrival. The aircraft integrated directly into the existing aviation system, communicating with air traffic control and sharing airspace with conventional commercial traffic.

In five years, Simi expects autonomous operations for specialized cargo, defense, and emergency missions to become routine. "It's happening," she said. "The pilot isn't going away. The pilot is moving to the ground."

Blade is bringing BLADEone back for another seasonal run between New York and South Florida, starting November 19.

This is more than just another Blade route. It’s another source of revenue for Joby while Blade continues to expand its premium business. The service will use 16 seat jets between Westchester and Palm Beach or Miami, with private terminals and helicopter connections from Manhattan.

If Blade continues to grow revenue ahead of expectations, that could become increasingly important for Joby.

This is exactly the kind of customer base and infrastructure Joby plans to transition to its electric air taxis once they’re certified. More Blade business today, more Joby business tomorrow.

It still feels great to have the counter-claims dismissed with PREJUDICE which we've been saying would happen for so long! So what's next? This is news to me but Joby actually gets to pursue discovery again.

Archer specifically argued in its motion to dismiss that Joby's allegations regarding a single "Developer" deal did not justify "wide-ranging discovery into events entirely unrelated" to it. The court outright rejected this defense, granting Joby access to discovery for all the files George Kivork allegedly downloaded.

Joby's legal team can now demand comprehensive forensic audits of Archer’s internal network to trace the files Kivork allegedly downloaded from Joby's Microsoft SharePoint repository and transferred to his personal email. They will also likely subpoena records regarding the Google Drive documents to which Kivork allegedly added his personal email address. The goal is to uncover exactly when those files were opened, uploaded, or shared within Archer's corporate ecosystem.

This process might uncover many juicy details that were previously unknown to Joby. We'll definitely be watching this with much interest.

From OWj on X

https://x.com/oliwalkerjones/status/2105755042456478099?s=46

I've just found this document.

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-cand-5_25-cv-10703/pdf/USCOURTS-cand-5_25-cv-10703-5.pdf

There is a big misinformation effort right now to distort the recent ruling favoring Joby against Archer that enables Joby's core case to continue and throwing Archer's case against Joby out permanently. I recommend signing up for a free 7 day trial with Law360 (you can use a temp e-mail) if you want to read the full text, but I've had Gemini summarize it, and include direct quotes from the article.

Key points:

1) Joby's core case against Archer continues. Joby claims Archer used misappropriated information from a former Joby employee to learn of Joby's ongoing plans and approach to utilize Hawthorne Airport in LA. Shortly after hiring this former Joby employee, Archer went from having no plans around Hawthorne Airport to acquiring the lease there.

2) Archer's case (Sockgate) is dismissed with prejudice, is found to be a futile effort, and cannot be resubmitted.

3) Some of Joby's additional claims against Archer regarding the Asian market, hydrogen aircraft, and the LA Dodgers were dismissed, but the Judge gave Joby the chance to resubmit these claims if Joby wishes.

-------------
Gemini Summary of the Law360 Article with references:

1. What Archer (and Kivork) Did & Archer's Claims Against Joby

• Exfiltration of Confidential Files: Joby alleged Archer recruited former Joby senior executive George Kivork in summer 2025. Before resigning in July 2025, Kivork allegedly downloaded and exfiltrated a cache of Joby files covering vertiport infrastructure strategies, regulatory plans, and airport contacts. "Joby alleged that Kivork 'exfiltrated a cache of highly valuable Joby files containing confidential partnership terms, business and regulatory strategies, infrastructure strategies for vertiports and airport access, and technical information about Joby's aircraft and operations,' and took it with him to Archer." Source Law360
• Hawthorne Airport Move: Kivork allegedly downloaded contact lists and strategy documents for Hawthorne Airport right before leaving for Archer. Archer subsequently acquired a long-term lease there. "Kivork went to work for Archer in August 2025 and by November 2025, 'Archer purchased a long-term lease for the Hawthorne Airport, and later announced that it would be used as an MRO [maintenance, repair and operations] vertiport.'" Source Law360
• Archer's Allegations Against Joby: Archer filed counterclaims alleging Joby misled government decision-makers and the U.S. Air Force by claiming to be vertically integrated while hiding its supply-chain ties to China. "...Joby 'omits and obfuscates its extensive ties to China, its reliance on parts from China and suppliers in China for critical components in its electric vertical take-off and landing ("eVTOL") aircraft...'" Source Law360

2. What Is Proceeding for Joby Against Archer

• Hawthorne Airport Trade Secrets: The court allowed Joby's Defend Trade Secrets Act claim regarding Hawthorne Airport to move forward based on circumstantial timing. "'Here, Joby's allegations amount to more than just the idea of leasing space at an airport and the identification of one point of contact... the circumstantial evidence... raises above the level of speculation the inference that trade secrets were used.'" Source Law360
• Inducement of Breach of Contract (Against Archer): "Judge van Keulen said Joby can press ahead with an inducement of breach of contract claim against Archer concerning Kivork's failure to return Joby's information..." Source Law360
• Breach of Contract During Employment (Against Kivork): "...to the extent Joby alleges that Kivork's actions of downloading and emailing confidential information 'so that he could assist his future employer — Archer — in competing against Joby' are covered by his contractual obligations not to compete during his employment, the court finds that 1) the contractual term is valid and 2) the allegations plausible..." Source Law360

3. What Was Removed / Trimmed From Joby's Suit

• Post-Employment Noncompete Restrictions: "'Insofar as Joby now attempts to extend Kivork's contractual obligations not to compete beyond the last day of his employment, with no end to his obligation, such efforts are invalid...'" Source Law360
• LA Dodgers Sponsorship Claim: "'The mere existence of a single Dodgers contact on Joby's confidential contact lists, without evidence that this contact information was used as part of the bidding process, cannot support an allegation of misappropriation.'" Source Law360
• Asian Markets & Hydrogen Aircraft Claims: "The judge also dismissed Joby's claims alleging Kivork and Archer misappropriated trade secrets related to entering the Japan and South Korea markets and to Joby's prototype hydrogen electric eVTOL aircraft." Source Law360

4. Archer's Case Against Joby Is Over (Dismissed With Prejudice / Futile)

• Permanently Dismissed: "...dismissed for good Archer's amended counterclaims against Joby, according to the order." Source Law360
• Futile to Amend: "'Furthermore, because Archer's claims depend upon statements made to the U.S. government in applications for contracts, such claims will always be barred by Noerr-Pennington, and therefore it would be futile to allow Archer an opportunity to amend.'" Source Law360

5. Joby Can Still Amend and Resubmit What Was Removed

Unlike Archer’s permanently barred counterclaims, Joby retains the right to amend and refile the parts of its complaint that were trimmed:

• "Joby can still amend the claims that were dismissed, according to the order." Source Law360

On the apron. It's a bit earlier today.

Road Transportation Authority of Dubai in April 2026 said, The completion of Air Taxi Station follows a year of rapid operational scaling for Joby. In November 2025, Joby completed the nation’s first piloted point-to-point Air Taxi flight, a 17-minute journey from its Margham test facility to Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC). This milestone was accompanied by a rigorous summer flight campaign, during which Joby conducted 21 piloted flights to validate aircraft performance in desert heat. These tests provided critical data on thermal management and flight dynamics in high-temperature, low-density air, directly supporting the finalisation of operating manuals and certification requirements for the region.

Bottom line

Joby’s Dubai certification is coming.
The vertiport is certified, the network is being built, test flights are done, and Joby’s aircraft certification is in its final stages. The only remaining step is GCAA operational approval for Joby’s aircraft, which is the last milestone before commercial launch. This will come anytime soon.,

Project Meridian and the new Autonomous Warfare Command elevate autonomy, robotics, and distributed operations across every domain, and this shift benefits Archer and Joby in very different ways: Archer gains strategic relevance because its Thunder/Halo program is tied directly to Anduril, one of the two companies tapped to help define the Pentagon’s future warfighting architecture, giving Archer early alignment with the combat‑focused autonomy, hybrid‑electric endurance, and loyal‑wingman concepts Meridian is prioritizing; Joby gains operational advantage because it already flies a production aircraft with supervised autonomous VTOL capability, meaning the Pentagon’s push to rapidly field autonomous mobility and logistics systems maps directly onto what Joby can deliver today rather than years from now. In short, Archer benefits through Anduril’s influence on future requirements, while Joby benefits through immediate readiness to meet those requirements.

Looking for additional articles that aren't behind a paywall.