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, 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.
BlackBerry recently disclosed that its QNX royalty backlog crossed $1.2 billion, expanding by more than $250 million across two quarters, according to the report.
“That has opened up so many doors, an incredible pipeline of opportunity,” Giamatteo said. That collaboration is directly driving QNX adoption across autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), robotic forklifts, and automated warehouse sleds ferrying pallet cargo to loading docks, according to the CEO. The pivot toward automated machinery is already feeding the company’s forward financial pipeline. 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.