John Chen, chief executive officer of BlackBerry Ltd., holds the BlackBerry Priv smartphone.

BlackBerry said on Friday it will acquire Cylance, an artificial intelligence and cybersecurity company, for $1.4 billion in cash to help expand its QNX unit which makes software for next-generation autonomous cars.

Besides the cash component, the deal includes the assumption of Cylance's unvested employee incentives, BlackBerry said.

California-based Cylance develops AI-based products to prevent cyberattacks on companies and recently considered filing for an IPO, according to a report in Business Insider.

The Canadian technology company, which dominated the smartphone market a decade ago, has shifted to selling software to manage mobile devices in addition to focusing on emerging areas like autonomous cars.

Cylance will operate as a separate business unit within BlackBerry, the company said.