Archer Aviation is set to serve as the official air taxi provider for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles—a high-profile partnership that has boosted the startup's public visibility. However, skepticism mounts over whether Archer can deliver a fully operational flying taxi aircraft ahead of the Games.

Short seller Culper Research has released a scathing report on Archer Aviation, alleging that the startup has "systematically misled, deceived, or outright lied" investors about nearly every significant milestone tied to developing and testing its eVTOL aircraft, Midnight.

"Archer's misrepresentations have grown increasingly brazen as it attempts to conceal a far more deep-seated, and – in the Company's very own words – "potentially catastrophic" problem: Midnight's sham transition flight and underlying instability. In our view, Archer's continued promotion of near-term commercialization is not only premature, but reckless," Culper wrote in the report.

Culper claimed Midnight was "nowhere close to flying," and pointed out that Archer CEO Adam Goldstein has been more focused on running promotions, such as appearing on Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show last Thursday. 

"Our sources suggest, however, Archer paid millions for the airtime, in addition to Fallon's recent appearance at an Archer promotional event in NYC," the short seller wrote, adding, "We reached out to Fallon's agent who told us that we, too, could have Jimmy show up at our party (to say nothing of his appearance in a promotional video) for about $600,000, plus transportation."

On Tuesday morning, Culper wrote on X, "We are short Archer Aviation - and we're extending a $1 million wager to Jimmy Fallon, who has earned millions to promote Archer. Jimmy - if you truly believe in Archer, prove it."

Archer shares are down a little more than 1% in late afternoon trading on Tuesday. According to data from S3 Partners, about 17% of the company's floating stock is short. 

Here is short activity in Archer shares via Bloomberg. 

Cathie Wood's Ark Investment Management is among the startup's top shareholders. 

It appears that Midnight is capable of flight—at least to some extent.

One has to wonder: will Cathie Wood step up to defend Archer against Culper's damning allegations?