Fresh off a controversial presidential pardon, ousted Nikola founder Trevor Milton is back in the game with an audacious new pitch: raising $1 billion for AI-powered autonomous aircraft. Milton, who previously promised to revolutionize the trucking industry before facing fraud charges, is now targeting the skies. He claims his new startup will leverage cutting-edge artificial intelligence to pilot planes, a move that seeks to capitalize on the current tech investment frenzy.

Undeterred by his tumultuous past, Milton candidly admits the mountain he now faces is far steeper. "It will be 10 times harder than Nikola ever was," he told the Wall Street Journal, acknowledging the immense technical barriers to self-flying vehicles. While critics remain wary of his history, Milton is betting big that he can secure the massive capital needed to engineer this aviation transformation.