Prime Minister Carney has confirmed that the long-delayed strategy will be released next week.<\/p>\n
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When Canada\u2019s long-delayed AI strategy is released next week, it will help the government make different choices around procurement, support, and providing capital to build up the industry, the federal AI minister\u2019s parliamentary secretary told attendees at a Toronto AI conference on Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The news: On Monday, at Betakit\u2019s Most Ambitious: Town Hall, AI minister Evan Solomon told attendees that the federal AI strategy will be coming soon. On Wednesday, we learned what soon means when Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters in Ottawa that the strategy will go live next week.<\/p>\n
From the source: \u201cCanada\u2019s renewed AI strategy\u2026will do things differently,\u201d Solomon\u2019s parliamentary secretary, Taleeb Noormohamed, said in an introductory speech at All In Talks Toronto on Thursday, during Toronto Tech Week. He said that Canadians have long watched \u201cindustrial-scale intellectual property and long-term value migrate elsewhere, but that \u201cour job is to make sure that stops.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added, speaking directly to the crowd, that \u201cif you\u2019re an investor in this room and you\u2019re hesitating [to buy into Canadian AI] because it\u2019s Canadian: don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
The best of Toronto Tech Week <\/p>\n
BetaKit is Toronto Tech Week\u2019s official media partner. Read all of our coverage here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Following the thread: Noormohamed\u2019s comments preceded a panel where leaders from companies like AMD, Hypertec, Bell, and Snowflake somewhat sidestepped the panel\u2019s theme of infrastructure access and instead spoke broadly about their desire to help Canadian AI companies commercialize and grow. Bell\u2019s John Watson shared his excitement for what the federal strategy might enable. Mike Marracino, with Hypertec, said that while Canada could \u201clead the world\u201d when it comes to AI, it will also need to keep an open mind as it will need to acquire some components for the industry (like GPUs) from elsewhere.\u00a0<\/p>\n Final thought: Canada\u2019s federal AI strategy was originally slated to be released before the end of last year. Gove<\/a>r<\/a>nment consultations<\/a> show that Canadians are concerned about ensuring the strategy both addresses ethical governance concerns and spurs economic growth. While he didn\u2019t address the former during his remarks, Noormohamed made it clear the upcoming strategy will focus on the latter.<\/p>\n