Electric trucking startup Harbinger has acquired autonomous driving software company Phantom AI as part of a strategy to bring more technology development in-house and diversify its revenue streams. The deal marks Harbinger’s first acquisition and signals a broader push beyond its core electric truck chassis business.
Over the past year, Harbinger has focused on manufacturing and selling electric truck chassis. Recently, the company expanded its product offerings by announcing plans to sell its battery packs for energy storage and auxiliary power applications, with Airstream named as its first customer. The acquisition of Phantom AI adds advanced driver assistance technology to Harbinger’s growing portfolio.
On Wednesday, Harbinger revealed that it has already secured a commercial agreement tied to the newly acquired technology. German automotive technology company ZF Group has agreed to license Phantom’s advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) from Harbinger and intends to integrate the technology into passenger vehicles for sale to automakers. Financial terms of both the acquisition and the licensing agreement were not disclosed.
Harbinger co-founder and CEO John Harris said in an interview with TechCrunch that the newly established software services segment is expected to generate “millions” of dollars in revenue this year. However, he noted that this amount will be relatively small compared to the company’s primary revenue from truck chassis sales. Harbinger recently raised $160 million in a funding round co-led by FedEx and THOR Industries, both of which are customers of the company.
Harris anticipates that the partnership with ZF Group will yield more substantial financial returns in 2027 or 2028. “The passenger car market is slower, but the volumes are very, very large,” he said, pointing to the long-term scale potential of the automotive sector.
Before the acquisition, Harbinger was already integrating Phantom AI’s driver assistance software into its vehicles. With the deal finalized, the company plans to deepen that integration, a move Harris believes will significantly benefit customers in the medium-duty trucking segment.
“Medium-duty [trucking] has a complete lack of safety features,” Harris said. “The majority of medium-duty vehicles on the road that have no backup cameras, no air conditioning, no lane keeping, no automatic emergency braking. It’s just not a thing that exists in the market yet, which is crazy.”
Harbinger has positioned its electric chassis as offering lower total cost of ownership, improved emissions compliance, and a quieter, easier driving experience due to its electric powertrain. Harris believes adding enhanced safety features through Phantom’s technology will further strengthen the company’s value proposition.
“These vehicles, many of them are spending their time navigating around truck ports and pulling in and out of neighborhoods to deliver packages. They’re all in places where there’s a very high safety risk of backing into vehicles, hitting pedestrians, hitting bicyclists, hitting children,” he said. “We need to have, maybe not the cutting-edge 2026 safety features, but we should at least have the safety features that were commodity in 2020 or 2015.”
Harbinger is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, while Phantom AI’s team of approximately 30 employees, including its leadership, will continue operating from Mountain View following the acquisition.
