Harbinger buys Phantom AI, signs ZF Group to license tech

Los Angeles, California-based electric trucking startup Harbinger has acquired Phantom AI, an autonomous driving software company based in Mountain View. The acquisition, which is Harbinger’s first, is intended to vertically integrate technology and establish new revenue streams. The startup plans to expand its portfolio beyond the electric truck chassis—the base frame of a motor vehicle—that it has been building and selling. Just last month, Harbinger announced it would start selling its battery packs for energy storage and auxiliary power, securing Airstream as its first customer. Under the acquisition, Phantom AI’s 30 employees, including its leadership team, will remain in Mountain View.

On Wednesday, Harbinger announced it has already secured a customer for the newly acquired driver assistance technology. German automotive technology giant ZF Group plans to license the software from Harbinger to sell to automakers for use in passenger cars. Harbinger co-founder and CEO John Harris expects this new software services business line to generate millions of dollars in revenue this year, though he noted this is mostly not material compared to chassis sales. However, Harris expects the ZF Group deal will bring in more significant revenue in 2027 or 2028. “The passenger car market is slower, but the volumes are very, very large,” said Harris.

A primary driver for the acquisition is addressing safety gaps in medium-duty vehicles—a classification of truck size. Harris emphasized that medium-duty trucking completely lacks safety features, noting that many such vehicles lack backup cameras, lane keeping, or automatic emergency braking. He explained that these trucks often navigate truck ports and residential neighborhoods to deliver packages, areas where they face a very high safety risk of backing into vehicles, hitting pedestrians, hitting bicyclists, hitting children. Harris added that while the vehicles may not need 2026 safety features, they should at least have the safety features that were commodity in 2020 or 2015.

The acquisition follows a $160 million funding round for Harbinger. The round was co-led by FedEx and THOR Industries, both of which are investors and customers. Harbinger was already using Phantom AI’s driver assistance technology prior to the acquisition, and the transaction will deepen the integration of the software into Harbinger’s electric vehicle platforms.

Why it matters

Harbinger’s acquisition of Phantom AI allows the electric trucking startup to vertically integrate autonomous driving technology into its chassis and create new revenue streams through software licensing, including a deal with ZF Group.