Archer Aviation has announced plans at the recent CES 2026 technology event in Las Vegas to develop and deploy the next generation of artificial intelligence technologies for aviation using the NVIDIA IGX Thor platform.

The aviation space is a high-impact domain for physical AI, particularly to advance critical capabilities in aircraft safety, airspace integration and autonomy-ready systems. Archer plans to debut its NVIDIA integration at Hawthorne Airport in central Los Angeles, which it recently acquired and is expected to be its operational hub for its planned LA air taxi network and a test bed for its AI-powered aviation technologies.

The companies have been working together since early 2025, with Archer planning to integrate NVIDIA IGX Thor, the company's most powerful safety-capable AI computing module, into future iterations of its aircraft programmes. NVIDIA IGX Thor is built to enable high-reliability, real-time onboard computing for safety-critical environments, supporting advanced perception, decision-making and predictive operations.

Archer aims to power the next wave of AI technology in aviation, with a focus on three core areas...

Enhancing pilot safety and predictive awareness: Leveraging NVIDIA's high-throughput edge computing to sense the environment, while processing flight-path data in real-time, giving pilots earlier, clearer and more actionable insight.

Seamless airspace integration: Developing AI systems that help bring current airspace management systems into the 21st century, allowing aircraft to safely integrate into today's complex airspace, including improved routing logic and dynamic traffic-aware flight planning.

Autonomy-ready flight controls: Pairing NVIDIA IGX Thor with Archer's proprietary avionics and control software to build a next-gen computing architecture capable of supporting future autonomous and semi-autonomous operations.

“CES has always been a launchpad for technologies that reshape industries, so we're proud to announce our AI collaboration with NVIDIA here,” says Adam Goldstein, Archer's founder and CEO. “NVIDIA's AI compute capabilities and software stack give us the foundation to accelerate toward safer, smarter aircraft systems and modernise how aviation interfaces with the world's airspace.”

Initial integration of NVIDIA IGX Thor into Archer's development pipeline is already well underway, with broader applications expected across manufacturing, aircraft fleet operations and pilot training. The collaboration builds on Archer's expanding ecosystem of AI-focused partnerships.

Rival US eVTOL OEM Joby Aviation was announced as the aviation launch partner for the new NVIDIA IGX Thor platform in October last year.