BlackBerry Limited and Baidu, Inc. have announced that they will work together to accelerate the deployment of connected and autonomous vehicle technology for automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers across the world.

The two companies have signed a statement of intent to make BlackBerry QNX’s safety operating system (OS) the foundation for Baidu’s Apollo autonomous driving open platform, which was announced in April 2017.

Named after the historic lunar landing program to “illustrate its scale and complexity,” Apollo provides a comprehensive, secure, and reliable technology that is made up of cloud services, an open software stack, and reference hardware and vehicle platforms. It supports all major features and functions of an autonomous vehicle.

Blackberry and Baidu will also work together to integrate Baidu’s CarLife, which is the leading smartphone integration software for connected cars in China, as well as Baidu's conversational AI system DuerOS, and high definition maps to run on the BlackBerry QNX Car (Infotainment) Platform.

With so much potential on the horizon, both companies are looking forward to working together.

“Joining forces with Baidu will enable us to explore integration opportunities for multiple vehicle subsystems including ADAS, infotainment, gateways, and cloud services,” says John Wall, Senior Vice President and GM of BlackBerry QNX.

“Baidu has made tremendous strides in Artificial Intelligence and deep learning. These advancements paired with their high-definition maps and BlackBerry’s safety-critical embedded software and expertise in security will be crucial ingredients for autonomous vehicles.”

Li Zhenyu, General Manager of Intelligent Driving Group, Baidu, says, “BlackBerry QNX has established itself as the OS platform for safety-certified production-based systems.

“By integrating the BlackBerry QNX OS with the Apollo platform, we will enable carmakers to leap from prototype to production systems. Together, we will work toward a technological and commercial ecosystem for autonomous driving, intelligent connectivity, and intelligent traffic systems.”