QNX and NVIDIA Expand Collaboration to Advance Safety-Critical Edge AI for Robotics, Medical, and Industrial Systems
BlackBerry QNX has expanded its collaboration with NVIDIA to integrate QNX OS for Safety 8.0 with the NVIDIA IGX Thor platform. This allows developers to build next-generation safety-critical edge AI systems for regulated sectors like medical and robotics, combining real-time safety with accelerated AI computing.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 22, 2026 at 20:10
- 🔍 Collected: April 23, 2026 at 00:02 (3h 52m after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 23, 2026 at 00:44 (42 min after Collected)
Hanover, Germany - April 20, 2026 - QNX, a business unit of BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB, TSX: BB), has announced an expanded collaboration with NVIDIA. This expansion enables developers to build and deploy next-generation safety-critical edge AI systems on NVIDIA IGX Thor. The integration of QNX® OS for Safety 8.0 and the NVIDIA IGX Thor Halos Safety Stack combines QNX's proven deterministic real-time OS with NVIDIA's functional safety platform to support AI-ready systems in highly regulated fields such as robotics, medical technology, and industrial applications.
Integrated Platform for Safety-Critical Edge AI
NVIDIA IGX Thor is designed to meet the high computing performance, functional safety, and reliability requirements for edge AI systems operating in regulated environments, including autonomous mobile robots (AMR), humanoids, surgical robots, medical imaging, and industrial automation platforms. By combining the NVIDIA IGX Thor Halos Safety Stack with QNX OS for Safety 8.0, developers can leverage NVIDIA accelerated computing for AI-driven functions such as perception, planning, and decision-making while integrating real-time control and safety concepts on a microkernel-based deterministic real-time OS. This approach of consolidating mixed-criticality workloads enables unified system architecture, supports safety certification processes, and achieves rapid, scalable development from initial prototype to production deployment.
John Wall, President of QNX, stated:
"As robotics, medical, and industrial systems become more autonomous and software-defined, safety and deterministic behavior are essential elements from the design stage. Integrating QNX OS for Safety 8.0 with NVIDIA IGX Thor and the NVIDIA Halos Safety Stack provides a reliable real-time safety foundation and a powerful functional safety platform for edge AI. This expansion builds upon our work with the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor developer kit, extending an architecture already proven in the automotive sector to next-generation intelligent systems requiring regulatory compliance."
Joint Commitment to Safety and Performance
QNX and NVIDIA have a long-standing relationship, including the recent announcement of QNX OS for Safety 8.0 adoption for the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor developer kit aimed at accelerating automotive and autonomous vehicle development. This new milestone demonstrates that their proven safety architecture and reliable real-time capabilities are expanding beyond automotive into robotics, medical, and industrial edge systems.
Application for Early Access and Contacting QNX Experts
An early access version of the NVIDIA IGX Thor developer kit featuring QNX is now being offered to selected customers considering development on the platform.
QNX's high-performance foundational software supports the simplification of particularly complex challenges in industries such as robotics, automotive, medical devices, industrial controls, commercial vehicles, rail, and aerospace/defense. QNX provides the foundation to unlock new possibilities in areas such as high-performance computing at the edge, standards-compliant virtualization technology, and cloud readiness. Trusted in the world's most critical systems, QNX continues to lead in various fields including robotics and healthcare, with its technology adopted by 9 of the top 10 medical device manufacturers.
For more details, please visit QNX.com and follow @QNX News.
About BlackBerry
BlackBerry provides intelligent software and services to enterprises and governments worldwide. BlackBerry's high-performance foundational software enables leading automotive and industrial companies to develop innovative applications and create new revenue streams without compromising safety, security, or reliability.
Integrated Platform for Safety-Critical Edge AI
NVIDIA IGX Thor is designed to meet the high computing performance, functional safety, and reliability requirements for edge AI systems operating in regulated environments, including autonomous mobile robots (AMR), humanoids, surgical robots, medical imaging, and industrial automation platforms. By combining the NVIDIA IGX Thor Halos Safety Stack with QNX OS for Safety 8.0, developers can leverage NVIDIA accelerated computing for AI-driven functions such as perception, planning, and decision-making while integrating real-time control and safety concepts on a microkernel-based deterministic real-time OS. This approach of consolidating mixed-criticality workloads enables unified system architecture, supports safety certification processes, and achieves rapid, scalable development from initial prototype to production deployment.
John Wall, President of QNX, stated:
"As robotics, medical, and industrial systems become more autonomous and software-defined, safety and deterministic behavior are essential elements from the design stage. Integrating QNX OS for Safety 8.0 with NVIDIA IGX Thor and the NVIDIA Halos Safety Stack provides a reliable real-time safety foundation and a powerful functional safety platform for edge AI. This expansion builds upon our work with the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor developer kit, extending an architecture already proven in the automotive sector to next-generation intelligent systems requiring regulatory compliance."
Joint Commitment to Safety and Performance
QNX and NVIDIA have a long-standing relationship, including the recent announcement of QNX OS for Safety 8.0 adoption for the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Thor developer kit aimed at accelerating automotive and autonomous vehicle development. This new milestone demonstrates that their proven safety architecture and reliable real-time capabilities are expanding beyond automotive into robotics, medical, and industrial edge systems.
Application for Early Access and Contacting QNX Experts
An early access version of the NVIDIA IGX Thor developer kit featuring QNX is now being offered to selected customers considering development on the platform.
QNX's high-performance foundational software supports the simplification of particularly complex challenges in industries such as robotics, automotive, medical devices, industrial controls, commercial vehicles, rail, and aerospace/defense. QNX provides the foundation to unlock new possibilities in areas such as high-performance computing at the edge, standards-compliant virtualization technology, and cloud readiness. Trusted in the world's most critical systems, QNX continues to lead in various fields including robotics and healthcare, with its technology adopted by 9 of the top 10 medical device manufacturers.
For more details, please visit QNX.com and follow @QNX News.
About BlackBerry
BlackBerry provides intelligent software and services to enterprises and governments worldwide. BlackBerry's high-performance foundational software enables leading automotive and industrial companies to develop innovative applications and create new revenue streams without compromising safety, security, or reliability.