BlackBerry Invests to Boost Automotive AI Capabilities

BlackBerry is hoping to drive forward its AI automotive data capabilities with a strategic investment into Michigan specialist CerebrumX Lab.

The BlackBerry IVY Innovation Fund is placing its bets on the company specializing in data-driven, in-vehicle products and services that aim to make it easier for automakers to create turnkey user-centric applications and enterprise solutions. CerebrumX claims a secure, AI-based augmented deep learning platform (ADLP) that has already been deployed on more than 45 million trips and captured more than 100 million miles of data.

With the new funding and by integrating with BlackBerry IVY, BlackBerry’s award-winning cloud-connected, automotive AI platform, CerebrumX is hoping to develop embedded in-car synthetic sensors to collect valuable consented data and perform critical data processing at the edge, delivering real-time insights that can help inform in-demand applications such as comprehensive driver and vehicle health scores. As part of the investment, Vito Giallorenzo, general manager of IVY and head of corporate development at BlackBerry will join CerebrumX’s advisory board.

Giallorenzo, said: “CerebrumX has built a powerful and impressive data management platform, capable of sifting through millions of connected vehicles to enable smarter, data-driven business decisions. By integrating with BlackBerry IVY, we’ll be able to take that offering to the next level and enable CerebrumX to perform intensive amounts of data processing at the vehicle edge to deliver real-time insights to automakers and other ecosystem providers, something which would otherwise involve cumbersome and costly cloud computing resources. We look forward to working with their team and expand our catalogue of BlackBerry IVY-enabled solutions with this exciting new offering.”

— Paul Myles is a seasoned automotive journalist based in Europe. Follow him on Twitter @Paulmyles_