BlackBerry Shares Pop Another 16.5% On Expanded Self-Driving Tie-Up With Baidu: What You Need To Know

BlackBerry Ltd. BB announced late Monday it has expanded its partnership with Chinese tech giant Baidu Inc. BIDU on self-driving technology. The company's shares surged 16.5% in the pre-market session on Tuesday.

What Happened: Under the expanded partnership, Baidu’s high-definition map will be integrated with BlackBerry’s QNX Neutrino real-time operating system.

See also: How to Buy BlackBerry [BB] Stock

The integrated system will be mass-produced and be available on Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. Ltd.’s electric vehicle arm’s upcoming GAC New Energy Aion models.

GAC is one of China’s largest automakers, in terms of units produced annually. It also makes the Hycan 007 cars under a joint-venture with EV startup Nio Inc. NIO.

“The BlackBerry QNX software performs well in functional safety, network security and reliability, while Baidu has achieved long-term development in artificial intelligence and deep learning,” Wang Yunpeng, a senior Baidu official, said in a statement.

“Together, we can help car manufacturers quickly produce safe autonomous vehicles and promote the development collaboratively of the intelligent networked automobile industry."

Why It Matters: BlackBerry and Baidu had originally announced a partnership on self-driving technology in January 2018.

Blackberry, once a popular smartphone maker, has found success in the self-driving vehicle industry with its QNX Neutrino RTOS.

The cybersecurity firm said more than 175 million vehicles on the road use the QNX technology.

The company’s shares have surged 172% year-to-date. BlackBerry shares added 38.5% gains in the regular and after-hours sessions on Monday alone, with Reddit community WallStreetBets understood to be the primary factor in driving this surge.

The company told a Canadian regulator late Monday that it wasn’t aware of any material event that could be driving this surge.

Price Action: BlackBerry shares traded 16.47% higher at $21 at press time in the pre-market session on Tuesday.

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