The federal government has launched consultations on how to spend the $2 billion in artificial intelligence investments, which was announced in April’s budget.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced innovation for economic growth in advance of the 2024 federal budget in Montreal on April 7, 2024.
The government hopes these investments over the next five years will help scale up Canadian-owned infrastructure for researchers and AI developers, given that the adoption of this technology requires a large amount of computing power.
Insufficient domestic computing capacity exposes Canadian researchers and firms to fragile international supply chains for AI computing power, posing challenges in terms of cost, security of access, and the privacy and security of Canadian data.
Many of the inputs required for AI are scarce and expensive. Many AI startups rely on cloud services provided by big tech giants such as Alphabet Inc., Microsoft Corp., and Amazon.com Inc.
The consultations will take place from June 26 to September 6 and will include researchers and businesses within the field.
The Ministry of Innovation, Science and Economic Development will also reach out to key partners, including the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Vector Institute, Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute, Québec Artificial Intelligence Institute, and the Digital Research Alliance of Canada.
When the consultations are completed, the ministry will publish a “What We Heard Report,” informing us on how to best implement the funding.
“This consultation will harness Canadian leadership, from researchers to end users, to help make sure that Canada continues to keep its advantage and that our economy is well positioned to take advantage of all the opportunities of AI,” Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister François-Philippe Champagne said in a statement. “This will strengthen and secure Canada’s AI advantage and domestic access to compute power.”
In 2017, Canada became one of the first countries to launch a national AI strategy. Despite this, the country lags behind the other G7 countries in computing power.
According to Statistics Canada, Canadian businesses also lag in AI adoption, with only one in 10 businesses currently using or planning to use generative AI.
In research, though, Canada is home to 10 percent of the world’s top-tier AI researchers, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The number of AI patents filed by Canadian inventors increased by 57 percent in 2022-23 compared to the previous year. As a report highlights, central banks must embrace artificial intelligence now, and AI surveillance risks are among the technology’s most urgent problems.
The federal government’s initiative is crucial to securing Canada’s place in the global AI arena by addressing the gaps in computing capacity and fostering greater adoption and innovation within the AI sector.
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