Apple Inc. is working on an operating system for a self-driving car with the help of a new set of Canadian engineers, according to a recent Bloomberg report.

The recently hired engineers previously worked at BlackBerry Ltd. and are presently still working on home turf in a suburb close to the capital city of Ottawa. The engineers, according to the report, all worked for Blackberry’s subsidiary, QNX Software Systems Ltd., a software provider for automobiles.

Apple has declined to comment on the issue, but a former QNX exec told Bloomberg that staff had been poached “because of their experience developing fundamental components of operating systems and power management.” These new engineers are designing the OS, but not the actual software that will control the car.

Poaching staff in the tech milieu is not usual by any means, but Apple setting up shop so far from home is quite an anomaly. Apple has been fairly assiduous in luring talent away from QNX, having hired former Chief Executive Dan Dodge for its Project Titan autonomous car team. “It’s not surprising,” Marty Beard, BlackBerry’s chief operating officer, was quoted as saying.

What exactly are Apple’s ambitions in the area of self-driving cars? CEO Tim Cook was taciturn when asked that question at the company’s earnings conference call today, responding, “I can’t speak about rumors. But as you know, we look for ways we can improve the customer’s experience on different sets of products.” Cook went on to say that Apple certainly believes the “car space” is going to be huge and as momentum picks up Apple will be looking at ways to “revolutionize” it.

In some ways Apple is already showing its originality in that it’s reportedly using virtual reality to test its self-driving systems rather than put fledgling vehicles into the city streets. This is led by what’s been called a “self-driving platform simulation group.” According to reports, it includes VR specialist and Virginia Tech researcher Doug Bowman.

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