BlackBerry was once the phone everyone wanted, now it is betting on AI robots

BlackBerry, the iconic brand whose physical-keyboard devices once dominated the early smartphone era, is putting its money into the growth of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered robots. Following years of operational restructuring, the Canadian technology company has evolved from a consumer mobile phone giant into an embedded software specialist. Now, as CEO John Giamatteo steers the enterprise past its automotive foundations, autonomous machines and “physical AI” seems to have taken center stage, as per a report by CNBC.Blackberry moving beyond smartphone and carsBlackBerry’s core engine today is its QNX operating system.

While best known for powering vehicle components ranging from electronic braking to semi-autonomous driving features, QNX is already running inside more than 275 million vehicles globally. However, executive leadership sees the next commercial frontier outside passenger cars.“While the products we sell today can’t be held in the palm of your hand, they’re pervasive around you. 275 million cars, robots, governments, medical instrumentation, supply chain.

That’s the new BlackBerry, and that’s what’s driving all of our growth,” Giamatteo told CNBC.Unlike generative AI models that generate text, video or synthetic images, physical AI equips mechanical systems to perceive, navigate and safely interact with physical environments. Giamatteo noted that robotics has quickly become one of the fastest-growing segments inside the QNX portfolio.

The company is leaning on decades of automotive safety certifications to position QNX as the foundational, mission-critical operating software that keeps commercial machines operating reliably.Expanding backlog and financial turnaroundThe pivot toward automated machinery is already feeding the company’s forward financial pipeline. According to the report, BlackBerry recently disclosed that its QNX royalty backlog crossed $1.2 billion, expanding by more than $250 million across two quarters.

Giamatteo attributed that momentum to global automakers shifting toward sophisticated centralised computing architectures, an expanded portfolio of enterprise software solutions and accelerating customer demand for physical AI deployments.BlackBerry's stock has surged 142% just in 2026, a remarkable reversal of fortunes for a company that had been written off as dead after the emergence of touch screen rivals, including Apple's iPhone.Deepening integration with NvidiaKey to BlackBerry's robotics expansion is its technical relationship with chipmaker Nvidia.

Originally established for automotive projects, the alliance has widened across industrial automation. Giamatteo confirmed that Nvidia has “standardised on QNX as the platform of choice” for its Halos Safety Stack.“That has opened up so many doors, an incredible pipeline of opportunity,” Giamatteo said. According to the CEO, that collaboration is directly driving QNX adoption across autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), robotic forklifts, and automated warehouse sleds ferrying pallet cargo to loading docks.You use AI every day.

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