Trevor Milton is back. The Nikola founder, freshly pardoned after a fraud conviction that sent shockwaves through the EV world, is now chasing $1 billion to build AI-powered autonomous planes through a venture called SyberJet. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Milton admitted the new project will be "10 times harder than Nikola ever was" - a stunning acknowledgment from an entrepreneur whose last company became synonymous with Silicon Valley excess and deception.
Trevor Milton isn't wasting his second chance. The Nikola founder, who walked free after a presidential pardon erased his four-year fraud sentence, has emerged with an audacious new pitch: AI-powered autonomous planes that could reshape aviation. He's hunting for $1 billion through a company called SyberJet, and he's refreshingly candid about the challenge ahead.
"Autonomous planes will be 10 times harder than Nikola ever was," Milton told the Wall Street Journal in a rare interview. It's a remarkable admission from someone whose last venture collapsed under the weight of securities fraud charges after he overstated the capabilities of Nikola's electric and hydrogen-powered trucks.
Milton was convicted in 2022 on three counts of fraud for misleading investors about Nikola's technology, including staging a video that made it appear a truck prototype was driving under its own power when it was actually rolling downhill. The conviction sent him to prison and turned Nikola into a cautionary tale about startup hype culture. His pardon, which came earlier this year, sparked immediate controversy in venture capital and legal circles.
Now he's betting that AI and autonomous aviation represent a clean slate. SyberJet appears focused on developing artificial intelligence systems capable of piloting aircraft without human intervention - a technical challenge that's stumped even well-funded players like Boeing and Airbus. The aviation giants have poured billions into autonomous flight research, but regulatory hurdles and safety concerns have kept fully autonomous commercial planes grounded.
