The news: The words \u201caction anti tech\u201d were spray-painted on the business, which is run on a self-serve system and also uses AI in its advertising. On the store\u2019s social media post about the incident, many commenters spoke to their concerns with technology, and the bakery\u2019s use of it, rather than expressing sympathy over the incident. One post reads, \u201cAlthough I prefer to boycott, I fundamentally can understand why your store was vandalized.\u201d<\/p>\n
From the source: \u201cThere is now something of what could be called a \u2018New Luddite\u2019 movement,\u201d writes Ariel Wittenberg for Politico<\/a>. Wittenberg writes that anger over the harms caused by data centres and AI chatbots in the US, and unequal distribution of profits, is spurring a broader political movement against technology.\u00a0<\/p>\n The context: In the US, where data centres have a major contested presence, anti-tech sentiments have sometimes spilled into violence<\/a>; a Molotov cocktail was recently tossed at Sam Altman\u2019s home, and shots were fired at the door of an Indiana councillor over state data centre discussions. Canadians do hold negative sentiments: more than two-thirds<\/a> of Canadians would oppose a data centre being built near their home, and just one in three<\/a> trust AI. Despite that opposition, backlash here hasn\u2019t materialized to the same extent. However, this incident, as well as protests across the country against data centres, might indicate growing friction.<\/p>\n Your unclaimed credit has an exact dollar figure<\/p>\n Conservative R&D tax credit claims feel safe, but that comfort has a price you pay every year. Companies afraid of audits claim less than they\u2019re owed, when the real protection is evidence: Every hour traced to Jira, GitHub, and payroll, made defensible before anyone asks. That\u2019s how Boast finds 10 to 20 percent more than accounting firms do across SR&ED, IDMTC and CDAE-IA, on under five hours of your team\u2019s time on average.<\/p>\n Twenty minutes puts a dollar figure on yours. Claim aggressively. Defend confidently.<\/p>\n See what my claim is missing.<\/a><\/p>\n Latest news across tech<\/p>\n Drama at DeepMind<\/p>\n Google\u2019s stock price dropped on Wednesday after it announced major changes to its AI unit.<\/p>\n The company, which has been criticized for falling behind in the AI race, shifted the Nobel Prize-winning CEO of Google DeepMind, Demis Hassabis, to the chief scientist role, according to Reuters<\/a>. Jeff Dean and several other notable engineers also left to start their own venture, Discovery Loop, which Toronto-based Radical Ventures announced<\/a> it is backing.<\/p>\n Cash crop<\/p>\n Data is becoming just as valuable as crops for some farmers. The Globe and Mail<\/a> reports on the AI-powered tools enhancing farming operations in the real world, and the effort to boost Canada\u2019s lagging AgTech investment and adoption rate.<\/p>\n Crawlers stop crawling<\/p>\n Independent media outlet stupidDOPE said its website was brought down after it was accessed and scraped<\/a> more than 70 million times by web crawlers pulling content for six AI companies. Reporting from 404 Media<\/a> shows that web crawlers are proving to be a pest, as platforms like Cloudflare and Patreon are moving to block crawlers intended for AI training.<\/p>\n SpaceX\u2019s crash landing<\/p>\n The rocket that SpaceX crashed into the moon wasn\u2019t its only sudden descent this week. While the stock price of Elon Musk\u2019s space company climbed leading up to its first earnings call on Tuesday evening, those gains were erased after SpaceX reported a sixfold increase in capital expenditures, mostly related<\/a> to AI spending.<\/p>\n As of Wednesday afternoon, SpaceX was trading at around $110 USD per share, well below its all-time high of $225 and IPO price of $135 per share.<\/p>\n Coldcard breached<\/p>\n Well over $100 million USD in Bitcoin has been stolen from users of Coldcard, an offline crypto wallet storage device made by Toronto-based Coinkite, according to CBC News<\/a>. Hackers figured out the algorithm the device used to generate seed phrases on an old firmware version; now the company is urging users<\/a> to migrate their keys immediately.<\/p>\n Misinformation spreading like wildfire<\/p>\n Canadian wildfires are getting worse, and so is the misinformation surrounding them. The Narwhal<\/a> reports how misleading AI summaries, incorrect AI-generated maps and infographics, and conspiracy theories can bring real-world risks.<\/p>\n Applications Are Now Open: Investment Bootcamp<\/p>\n The Black Entrepreneurship Alliance is accepting applications for its fully funded, four-month Investment Bootcamp. Designed for Black-led tech founders, the program helps strengthen your capital strategy and fuel growth.<\/p>\n Selected founders receive 1:1 mentorship, expert-led workshops, and specialized support in finance, legal, and marketing. You also gain dedicated co-working space, a 3-month YSpace membership, investor connections, and the chance to pitch at a Demo Day for up to $20K in prizes.<\/p>\n Two streams available: Only 10 ventures selected.<\/p>\n Applications close on August 30. Apply here.<\/a><\/p>\n On the move<\/p>\n This week\u2019s hires, fires, and exec shakeups:<\/p>\n FinTech leaders from Wealthsimple, Koho, and ABCorp have joined the board<\/a> of the Canadian Prepaid Providers Organization.<\/p>\n Montr\u00e9al-based meal kit service Goodfood is seeking creditor protection<\/a> after the resignation of its CEO, Selim Bassoul.<\/p>\n U of T prof Sanja Fidler left her role<\/a> as Nvidia\u2019s VP of AI research.<\/p>\n Well Health said it appointed<\/a> Loreto Grimaldi as its chief legal officer and Kaytek Przybylski as its chief digital and information officer.<\/p>\n Former Float product manager Sarah Marion announced on LinkedIn<\/a> that she\u2019s joined Wealthsimple to lead its kids and teens accounts.<\/p>\n Richmond, BC-based mining tech startup Ideon Technologies said it appointed<\/a> Anirban Basu as its VP of software engineering.<\/p>\n Toronto blockchain firm Tokenwell appointed<\/a> Sheldon Levy as CEO following Timothy J. Burgess\u2019 departure last month.<\/p>\n Digital wellness platform LifeSpeak appointed<\/a> former Telus Health leader Neil King as CEO.<\/p>\n Toronto youth are \u2018disheartened\u2019 over the labour market after 50,000 people applied for just 5,000 jobs at the CNE this year, CBC News<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n Want to feature a hiring announcement on our list? Email partnerships@betakit.com<\/a> with the subject line JOBS.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \n Previous <\/p>\n \n Find out how you did <\/p>\n Your score:<\/p>\n Quiz answer: a) Tokenmaxxing. Parikh told employees that Microsoft will start managing AI token spend with the same discipline it applies to \u201cevery other critical resource,\u201d and make a cheaper ChatGPT model its default for internal use, according to 404 Media<\/a>.<\/p>\n Quiz answer: a) Tokenmaxxing. Parikh told employees that Microsoft will start managing AI token spend with the same discipline it applies to \u201cevery other critical resource,\u201d and make a cheaper ChatGPT model its default for internal use, according to 404 Media<\/a>.<\/p>\n Contributors: Alex Riehl (Ottawa staff writer), Douglas Soltys (editor in chief), Sarah Rieger (managing editor), Trevor Nichols (web editor).<\/p>\n Feature image courtesy Sarah Reiger for BetaKit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Plus: Google shakes up DeepMind.
Last week, an automated bakery in Montr\u00e9al was vandalized for the second…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":157149,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1660,17],"class_list":["post-157148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ai","tag-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1785966615_572_Boast_BetaKit_Newsletter_600x300-Gary-Chauhan.png\" "\\"Boast_BetaKit_Newsletter_600x300")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1785966616_917_INVESTMENT-BOOTCAMP-BETA-KIT-2026-Black-Entrepreneurship-Alliance-1024x512.png\" "\\"INVESTMENT")
<\/a><\/p>\n
Pre-revenue with a validated MVP
Post-revenue ($1K+ MRR)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/BetaKit-Quiz.png\" "\\"The")
#1. Fill in the blank: \u201c____maxxing is not what we are optimizing for,\u201d Microsoft EVP Jay Parikh said in an email to employees. <\/p>\n