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Vertical Aerospace Valo Launch
Vertical’s Valo eVTOL aircraft (Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Archer Aviation sues rival Vertical, alleging air taxi design patent infringement

Archer Aviation alleged that Vertical’s Valo aircraft “mimics” its own Midnight aircraft.

Archer Aviation on Monday filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Vertical Aerospace, alleging that its UK rival illegally copied the design of its Midnight air taxi.

Archer alleges that Vertical infringed on “at least” two design patents and one utility patent.

“Vertical has knowingly, willfully, and in reckless disregard leveraged and exploited the substantial goodwill and reputation associated with Archer’s patented designs,” the lawsuit reads. “Vertical’s infringement is readily apparent from a visual comparison of the overall appearance of the Valo to Archer’s patented designs.”

Archer included the following image comparison in its complaint:

Archer Vertical suit
(Archer)

Archer and Vertical’s rivalry has heated up in recent months. Vertical last week announced that it’s targeting an air taxi network in Florida, which would overlap with Archer’s planned Miami network. Earlier this year, Vertical also announced plans for an NYC network, mirroring Archer’s plans in the city.

Last week, Archer announced that Bristol, England, will be home to its UK engineering hub. Vertical is also based in Bristol.

Archer is involved in a legal battle with air taxi rival Joby Aviation as well. Joby sued the company in November last year, alleging Archer stole its trade secrets and used them to undercut a partnership deal. Archer has moved to have the lawsuit dismissed.

Vertical did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Paramount is expected to raise its Warner Bros. offer to $32 per share

Paramount’s seven-day window to talk to Warner Bros. Discovery about its best and final offer is set to end at 11:59 p.m. ET on Monday, and the company is expected to finally raise the per-share dollar amount of its bid.

According to reporting by Variety, Paramount’s revised offer is likely to arrive at $32 per share for the HBO and CNN parent.

Paramount’s last major revision to its offer came earlier this month, when it said it would cover the $2.8 billion breakup fee that WBD would owe Netflix in the event of that deal falling apart, and would pay shareholders a “ticking fee” of $0.25 per share for every quarter the deal hasn’t closed after the end of 2026.

Netflix’s next move will be determined by the response of Warner Bros.’ board. Per reporting by Reuters, the streamer has ample cash to increase its own offer for its streaming rival. Analysts at MoffettNathanson Research last week said they expect Netflix to walk away from Warner Bros. if Paramount’s bid comes in “well beyond” $32.

As of Monday at 9 a.m. ET, prediction markets speculating on which company will ultimately come out on top of the bidding war have Netflix at a 46% chance over Paramount’s 43% odds.

Also potentially affecting prediction markets is a Truth Social post by President Trump on Sunday, in which Trump wrote that Netflix must fire board member Susan Rice immediately or "pay the consequences."

(Event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC — probabilities referenced or sourced from KalshiEx LLC or ForecastEx LLC.)

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Paramount’s last major revision to its offer came earlier this month, when it said it would cover the $2.8 billion breakup fee that WBD would owe Netflix in the event of that deal falling apart, and would pay shareholders a “ticking fee” of $0.25 per share for every quarter the deal hasn’t closed after the end of 2026.

Netflix’s next move will be determined by the response of Warner Bros.’ board. Per reporting by Reuters, the streamer has ample cash to increase its own offer for its streaming rival. Analysts at MoffettNathanson Research last week said they expect Netflix to walk away from Warner Bros. if Paramount’s bid comes in “well beyond” $32.

As of Monday at 9 a.m. ET, prediction markets speculating on which company will ultimately come out on top of the bidding war have Netflix at a 46% chance over Paramount’s 43% odds.

Also potentially affecting prediction markets is a Truth Social post by President Trump on Sunday, in which Trump wrote that Netflix must fire board member Susan Rice immediately or "pay the consequences."

(Event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC — probabilities referenced or sourced from KalshiEx LLC or ForecastEx LLC.)

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business

Microsoft makes dramatic shake-up to its gaming division as gaming CEO Phil Spencer and Xbox President Sarah Bond depart

Microsoft’s gaming division underwent a major shake-up on Friday, as the tech giant announced the departure of gaming CEO Phil Spencer, who led the division for 12 years and championed its Game Pass subscription service.

Xbox President Sarah Bond is also out, according to Spencer’s memo to employees.

Xbox has fallen significantly behind rivals Sony and Nintendo in recent years. Microsoft raised Xbox console prices twice last year and bumped subscription fees up 50%. In November, the console was even outsold (in unit sales) by the motion-controlled Nex Playground console.

The pair have overseen a shift at Xbox from standard consoles to an array of consoles, handhelds, and various devices and screens accessed via cloud gaming.

Spencer’s replacement as the head of gaming is Microsoft’s president of CoreAI product, Asha Sharma. In a memo to staff, Sharma made three commitments: great games, the “return of Xbox,” and to “invent new business models and new ways to play.”

Xbox has fallen significantly behind rivals Sony and Nintendo in recent years. Microsoft raised Xbox console prices twice last year and bumped subscription fees up 50%. In November, the console was even outsold (in unit sales) by the motion-controlled Nex Playground console.

The pair have overseen a shift at Xbox from standard consoles to an array of consoles, handhelds, and various devices and screens accessed via cloud gaming.

Spencer’s replacement as the head of gaming is Microsoft’s president of CoreAI product, Asha Sharma. In a memo to staff, Sharma made three commitments: great games, the “return of Xbox,” and to “invent new business models and new ways to play.”

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Judge rejects Tesla’s attempt to overturn $243 million verdict over fatal 2019 autopilot crash

Tesla’s effort to appeal a $243 million jury verdict related to a fatal 2019 crash that occurred when a Tesla vehicle was in self-driving mode was rejected by a federal judge in a ruling made public on Friday.

Tesla is expected to appeal the decision to a higher court.

The case was the first federal lawsuit surrounding an autopilot death to go to a jury trial for Tesla. In August, a jury found the automaker 33% responsible for the 2019 crash. The jury determined that Tesla was partly to blame for enabling the driver to take his eyes off the road, and the company was ordered to pay an additional $200 million in punitive damages.

Tesla reportedly turned down a $60 million settlement offer prior to the trial. According to Electrek, dozens of similar cases involving the EV maker are working through the court system.

This month, Tesla stopped using the term “autopilot” in its marketing in order to avoid a sales ban in California. Tesla appears to have replaced the term with “Traffic Aware Cruise Control” and added “supervised” to its mentions of Full Self-Driving tech.

The case was the first federal lawsuit surrounding an autopilot death to go to a jury trial for Tesla. In August, a jury found the automaker 33% responsible for the 2019 crash. The jury determined that Tesla was partly to blame for enabling the driver to take his eyes off the road, and the company was ordered to pay an additional $200 million in punitive damages.

Tesla reportedly turned down a $60 million settlement offer prior to the trial. According to Electrek, dozens of similar cases involving the EV maker are working through the court system.

This month, Tesla stopped using the term “autopilot” in its marketing in order to avoid a sales ban in California. Tesla appears to have replaced the term with “Traffic Aware Cruise Control” and added “supervised” to its mentions of Full Self-Driving tech.

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