BlackBerry is seeing rapid growth in robotics within its QNX software business as the company seeks to position itself for the next wave of “physical AI,” CEO John Giamatteo told CNBC.
The shift marks another stage in BlackBerry’s transformation from a once-dominant smartphone manufacturer into an enterprise software company focused heavily on embedded and safety-critical systems.
QNX, BlackBerry’s largest software business, provides operating systems and embedded software used in safety-critical applications, particularly in the automotive industry. Its technology supports functions ranging from braking systems to advanced driver-assistance and semi-autonomous driving features.
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BlackBerry says QNX software is now embedded in about 275 million vehicles, giving the company a large installed base from which to expand into other industries where software reliability and safety are critical.
Giamatteo said robotics is now among the fastest-growing areas within the QNX portfolio.
“We think that could be even a faster-growing segment of the industry for things like robotics,” he told CNBC’s “The Tech Download” podcast.
BlackBerry is not primarily targeting humanoid robots, which have attracted significant attention from Chinese and U.S. technology companies. Instead, the company sees a larger near-term opportunity in industrial and specialized machines, including warehouse robots, autonomous forklifts and medical equipment.
“As excited as we are about the dynamics of the automotive industry and where that’s going, these other applications around robotics and medical instruments and industrial automation represent a tremendous growth opportunity,” Giamatteo said.
“And one that I think BlackBerry and our QNX portfolio is really well positioned to address,” he added.
The opportunity is huge because modern robots increasingly require the same combination of computing, sensors, software and safety controls found in advanced vehicles.
Traditional industrial robots were generally designed to perform narrowly defined tasks in controlled environments. Newer systems can incorporate artificial intelligence to perceive their surroundings, interpret changing conditions and make decisions in real time. That shift is helping drive the concept of physical AI, in which AI systems move beyond generating digital outputs and interact directly with the physical world.
QNX provides a potential bridge between those two worlds for BlackBerry. The company already has years of experience developing software that must operate reliably inside vehicles, where system failures can have serious safety consequences.
Giamatteo said robotics is already one of the “fastest-growing businesses inside the QNX portfolio,” although BlackBerry has not disclosed how much revenue currently comes from the sector. The company has a QNX order backlog worth about $950 million, he said, with a portion of that backlog coming from robotics. Giamatteo did not provide a specific figure for the robotics component.
The backlog offers a more concrete indication of the opportunity than the company’s broader forecasts. While robotics remains a smaller business than automotive software, orders already in the pipeline suggest that QNX is being adopted for applications beyond conventional vehicle systems.
BlackBerry is also strengthening its position through partnerships with major chipmakers.
In April, the company announced an expanded partnership with Nvidia to deploy QNX software alongside Nvidia’s computing platforms in robotics, medical technology and industrial applications.
The partnership is essential because Nvidia has become a major supplier of the computing infrastructure used to train and run AI systems. Combining Nvidia’s AI computing capabilities with QNX’s embedded and safety-critical software could allow manufacturers to build robots capable of running sophisticated AI models while maintaining the reliability required for industrial and medical applications.
The strategy also gives BlackBerry exposure to robotics without having to manufacture robots itself.
Building physical robots requires substantial investment in hardware, manufacturing, supply chains and distribution. This means that software providers can potentially participate in the expansion of the industry across multiple manufacturers and applications.
BlackBerry’s automotive experience provides another advantage. Vehicle manufacturers have increasingly adopted software-defined architectures in which computing and software control a growing range of vehicle functions. Robotics is moving in a similar direction, with software becoming more central to perception, navigation, control and safety.
The company’s stock has roughly doubled this year as margins and profitability have improved, giving investors another reason to focus on whether its emerging businesses can supplement the established automotive operation. The challenge is that robotics remains a highly competitive market. BlackBerry faces established industrial automation companies as well as semiconductor and AI firms seeking to provide the computing and software layers for next-generation machines.
The company’s strongest argument is not that it can build the most advanced robot, but that QNX can become part of the underlying software infrastructure required to make robots safe, reliable and commercially deployable.
Analysts expect that to give BlackBerry a role in a market extending well beyond humanoid robots. Warehouses, factories, hospitals and other industrial environments may adopt specialized autonomous machines at a faster pace than consumers adopt general-purpose humanoids.
“Robotics is going to shift in a hardcore way … and we couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity in front of us,” Giamatteo said.