BlackBerry is back in focus, but not because of phones. The company, long removed from the consumer handset market, is now being framed as a core software provider for AI and robotics, and its stock rose nearly 23% on Thursday after an earnings beat and higher guidance.
Once known for physical-keyboard devices, BlackBerry has spent years shifting into enterprise and embedded software. Its current pitch centers on QNX, which the report describes as a mission-critical software layer inside the physical AI stack. In practical terms, that means software built to keep autonomous machines operating safely and reliably.
QNX sits inside smart cars and warehouse robots
According to the report, BlackBerry’s QNX is being used by major chipmakers including Nvidia and AMD in systems tied to smart vehicles and warehouse robots. The emphasis is not on generative AI output, but on the real-time software foundation that lets machines move with low latency and under strict safety requirements.
CEO John Giamatteo said on the earnings call: “As intelligent machines become increasingly autonomous and operate around people, the requirements for safety, security, reliability and real-time determinism become even more important. Unlike probabilistic AI systems, QNX technology is deterministic and safety certified, which is exactly why it is so hard to replicate and why customers trust it for systems where failure is not an option.”
Security roots connect BlackBerry’s past and present
The report also points back to BlackBerry’s earlier reputation for secure devices used by governments and executives. That protection relied on the same underlying math and cryptographic principles used in modern cryptocurrency, though applied in a very different setting.
Now the company is extending that security heritage into AI systems. While QNX is not the same platform BlackBerry used in its device era, the report says the software still depends heavily on the same cryptography library. That shift is drawing investor attention, with analysts highlighting BlackBerry as part of the infrastructure layer behind the current AI trade.