“Blue screening in a robotaxi is not an option.”
The Tech Download · August 2026
Asked how BlackBerry positions itself in AI, Giamatteo answers that the company is deliberately careful about how much AI goes into the code of its own products. The QNX platform runs safety-critical software in vehicles, where failure has to be ruled out rather than made unlikely. This is where he draws the line.
Transcript
…the way we work with all. The chip manufacturers and the OEMs and the tier one suppliers in that part of the industry, we have a deep collaboration that we work with them on. So I'm sure you'll see BlackBerry and QNX platform playing a prominent role in that as that part of the industry takes hold.
…the landscape around AI, they see areas like semiconductors, which have done very well from a financial perspective, the model companies, which are gaining a lot of traction as well. What is, if I were to ask you, New, what's BlackBerry's positioning in the world of AI? How would you describe it?
…the way I would describe it, Archer, is really in a pragmatic way. You know, we're a little bit careful about how much AI we actually put into the code of our products because, you know, back to kind of safety, secure, and certified type of software, those robotoxies, failure is not an option. They have to stop. They have to turn. They have to do all the things they need to do every single time. Blue screening in a robotaxi is not an option. Being a little bit cautious about how much AI technology you actually put into the code that's powering those tax or those autonomous vehicles or any vehicle for that matter is something we're very, very careful. Now, will we use AI technology around testing new products and integrating new products and different ways to be more efficient and to get improve our overall time to market? Absolutely…
I want to just take you away from the conversation for a minute to talk about software because this is so central these days to the BlackBerry story. Now, John Giamateo of BlackBerry mentioned safety-critical software. What exactly is that? When you think about a car or a robot, these are things…
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