Blackberry will power virtual development of Stellantis' 'SmartCockpit' for cars

Blackberry, champion of on-the-go email senders everywhere, is back. Well, sort of. The company no longer makes the iconic button-mashing smartphones, but its software division will power the development of future Stellantis tech features. The automaker announced its partnership with Blackberry and Amazon Web Services this week to capture the excitement around CES 2024.

In a true “meeting of the minds,” Blackberry’s software will run on the AWS cloud to simulate a vehicle’s cockpit. Stellantis said the tech completely recreates vehicles’ systems and controls, and using the cloud can significantly speed up the pace of development. Work that previously took several months can now be completed in as little as 24 hours in some cases. “Essentially, we’re able to get closer to our customers’ needs through this technology with faster development cycles, faster feedback loops, and quicker delivery of the technology they know and love,” said Yves Bonnefont, the automaker’s Chief Software Officer.