Mr. Grant Courville reports

QNX AND HAILO JOIN FORCES TO ADVANCE RELIABLE PHYSICAL AI AT THE EDGE

QNX, a division of BlackBerry Ltd., has provided support for the Hailo-8 AI Accelerator on QNX software development platform 8.0, expanding the hardware options available to customers building artificial intelligence-powered Edge systems where performance, reliability and predictability are critical.

The combination of Hailo's Edge AI acceleration and QNX's trusted real-time software enables developers to build AI-powered systems for safety- and mission-critical applications where performance and predictability must go hand in hand. A leading provider of Edge AI processors, Hailo has technology deployed across automotive, industrial automation, robotics and smart infrastructure applications worldwide.

Enabling the next wave of physical AI

As AI capabilities increasingly move from the cloud to the Edge, organizations are under growing pressure to deliver intelligent systems that can operate safely and reliably in dynamic real-world environments. Whether building next-generation robots, medical devices, industrial systems or software-defined vehicles, developers need a joint hardware-software foundation capable of delivering both advanced AI performance and deterministic real-time behaviour.

By combining Hailo's Edge AI acceleration with QNX's trusted real-time software foundation, developers may accelerate the deployment of physical AI systems without compromising the reliability, responsiveness and predictability required for real-world operations.

Benchmarking predictable AI performance at the Edge

To demonstrate the benefits of running Edge AI workloads on Hailo hardware with QNX, the companies conducted a benchmarking exercise using a Raspberry Pi 5 driving the Hailo-8 AI Accelerator, running on both QNX SDP 8.0 and a real-time Linux environment. The testing showed that AI workloads running on QNX OS can deliver high performance for AI on embedded devices, achieving up to 14 times greater performance consistency, 2.6 times tighter latency distribution, 4.1 per cent higher throughput and 3.9-per-cent lower average latency. Together, the results demonstrate how QNX and Hailo can help developers build AI-powered systems that are not only fast, but also more predictable and reliable in real-world operations.

"Increasingly, advanced embedded devices are looking to AI to unlock new functionality," said Grant Courville, senior vice-president, products and strategy, QNX. "Together, QNX and Hailo are helping customers turn that potential into reality by bringing advanced AI capabilities to the Edge on a QNX trusted and deterministic software foundation."

"As demand for intelligent Edge systems continues to grow, developers are looking for technologies that simplify the path from innovation to deployment," said Max Glover, chief revenue officer at Hailo. "Together with QNX, we're enabling customers to bring advanced AI capabilities to a broader range of embedded applications and accelerate the next generation of intelligent products."

Support for the Hailo-8 AI Accelerator expands the range of AI-enabled hardware available on QNX, giving developers greater flexibility to build intelligent systems that combine advanced edge AI capabilities with the real-time performance, reliability and determinism required for deployment in the physical world.

QNX provides high performance foundational software that helps simplify the most complex challenges in industries such as robotics, automotive, medical devices, industrial controls, commercial vehicles, rail, and aerospace and defence. QNX empowers organizations to unlock new possibilities in areas like high performance computing at the Edge, standards-based virtualization technologies and cloud enablement. Trusted in the world's most critical systems, QNX continues to lead across a range of sectors, including robotics and health care, where its technology is deployed by nine of the top-10 medical device manufacturers.

About BlackBerry Ltd.

BlackBerry provides enterprises and governments the intelligent software and services that power the world around us. Based in Waterloo, Ont., the company has high performance foundational software that enables major automakers and industrial giants alike to unlock transformative applications, drive new revenue streams and launch innovative business models, all without sacrificing safety, security and reliability. With a deep heritage in secure communications, BlackBerry delivers operational resiliency with a comprehensive, highly secure and extensively certified portfolio for mobile fortification, mission-critical communications and critical event management.