Archer builds Zee, a foundation model that wants to read the entire airspace

Archer's Zee model unifies flight data and weather. What this onboard system is preparing for air traffic control and pilots.

Archer, known for its electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, is now tackling aviation's software intelligence. Its foundation model, named Zee, aims to combine into a single system data that has previously been read separately by pilots and controllers: ADS-B, ATC communications, maps, aircraft status, terrain, and weather. The company presents it as the most advanced aviation-specific foundation model in the world.

Zee learns from real-world operational data collected via an in-house pipeline and a global network of over 6,000 ADS-B receivers. It is designed to run on-device and offline as well as server-side, a requirement to cover use cases ranging from air taxis and drones to commercial airliners and air traffic management.

The development involves around a hundred researchers and engineers, led by Mario Srouji, formerly of Apple, with Professor Ruslan Salakhutdinov (formerly of Meta and Apple) serving as an advisor. To put the stakes into perspective, more than 45,000 flights cross US airspace every day, which the US Department of Transportation has committed to modernizing for approximately twenty billion dollars. For now, Archer is only in discussions: an initial deployment is envisioned in the form of pilot programs with governments, airlines, and partners, focusing on flight operations, airspace management, and piloting assistance, with no confirmed entry into service at this stage.