
Cohere asks U.S. court to toss complaint from media alleging copyright infringement
TORONTO – Cohere is asking a U.S. court to throw out the bulk of a lawsuit from media outlets that have accused the artificial intelligence company of infringing on their copyright.
In a dismissal motion filed in a New York court, Cohere accuses publishers including the Toronto Star, Condé Nast, McClatchy, Forbes Media and Guardian News of deliberately using its software to manufacture a case.
Cohere says the outlets must have stylized prompts they entered into its software to elicit portions of their own work, which sometimes included inaccuracies.
Cohere says nothing in the complaint filed by the outlets suggests that any real customer has ever used the company's software to infringe on the publisher's copyright.
The response Cohere filed comes months after the group of mostly U.S. publishers asked a court to stop the Toronto-based company from using their copyrighted works for training or fine-tuning AI models.
They also want the court to force Cohere to pay up to $150,000 for every article they allege the firm scraped from their websites and then trained its products on.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 23, 2025.
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Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Premiers, PM talk about ‘generational change' after high-stakes meeting
SASKATOON — Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said the nation-building projects discussed by the premiers and Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday present a 'generational opportunity for Canadians,' especially those who live in poorer communities. Provincial and territorial leaders sat down with Carney in Saskatoon and each premier was armed with wish lists of major projects they hope the federal government will deem to be in the national interest, then fast-track for approval. 'The point is to build the certainty, the stability and the ambition that builders need to catalyze enormous investment — investment to make Canada into an energy superpower,' Carney said at the closing news conference. Premier of Manitoba Wab Kinew, left to right, Prime Minister Mark Carney, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs of Canada Dominic LeBlanc, Premier of Québec François Legault, Premier of New Brunswick Susan Holt, and Premier of the Northwest Territories R.J. Simpson during the First Minister's Meeting in Saskatoon on Monday, June 2, 2025. (Liam Richards / The Canadian Press) Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the gathering was the 'best' they have had in the last decade — a light jab at former prime minister Justin Trudeau, who frequently had frosty relations with the group, especially prairie premiers looking to build out the energy sector. Ford said the premiers, and the whole country along with them, stand united as Canada comes under attack from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs — even as some in the group scrapped over pipeline politics. While the group mulled over a number of potential natural resource and infrastructure developments in private, they did not release a final list. 'Nothing was carved in stone at this meeting,' Ford said, adding he had no expectations the prime minster would approve specific projects at the meeting. 'I described him today as Santa Claus. He's coming and his sled was full of all sorts of stuff. Now he's taking off back to the North Pole and he's going to sort it out and he's going to call us.' The federal Liberals have yet to reveal in Parliament their promised legislation to speed up approvals for select projects to a maximum of two years. That could be tabled as early as this week. When he was pressed on the lack of specifics after the meeting, Carney said he could name lots of examples of contenders. He rattled off a list that included the Grays Bay Road and Port, which would connect southern Canada to the Arctic by road, along with the Ring of Fire mining project in northern Ontario. Notably, he mentioned the Pathways Alliance oilsands project, though he did not commit to any. Carney said the group would refine what should count as priority projects over the summer and touted that as 'private proponents become aware of the opportunity here, we're going to see more projects coming forward.' He said the upcoming federal legislation will also mandate meaningful consultation with Indigenous Peoples, including in which projects get picked and how they are developed. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith went into the meeting warning that any list that doesn't include new pipelines would send a bad message to her province. She left the meeting on a positive note, saying it's up to political leaders to find a proponent for a new pipeline and that she's willing to give this process a chance. Premier of Saskatchewan Scott Moe, left to right, Premier of Manitoba Wab Kinew, and Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador John Hogan during to the First Minister's Meeting in Saskatoon on Monday, June 2, 2025. (Liam Richards / The Canadian Press) 'I'm encouraged by the immediate change of tone that we've seen from recent months,' she said. 'When we hear the prime minster talking about being an energy superpower, we haven't heard that language for some time.' Before the meeting, Kinew was asked how confident he was that one of his pet projects — modernizing the Port of Churchill — would get the green light from Ottawa. 'We need to get our natural resources in Canada to tidewater. I think, in time, you'll see that Hudson Bay is probably the most tenable course towards hitting international tide waters.' He was asked about the challenges of building a heavy-traffic rail line to the northern port. 'We have tidewater. We've got communities who are ready to engage in northern Manitoba to bring these natural resources to market. So let's use the private sector to figure out the engineering, the best route and how to energize the Western Canadian engine that's going to power the Canadian economy,' he said. In April, Kinew and Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok signed a statement to work together to push for an energy corridor to the North. Akeeagok said Monday he sees the potential to strengthen Canada's sovereignty and the North, for a change. 'The infrastructure gap between north and south is something that, I think, we're all taking note of, and that this is our moment as a country where we're unified around wanting to see us prosper and to become stronger and very much look forward to seeing actual infrastructure built to ensure that our communities are healthy,' Nunavut's premier said. When asked how he'd like to see fellow premiers react if their projects don't make the cut, Kinew used a hockey metaphor. 'This is Team Canada and it doesn't matter if you're the first shift for the initial puck drop or if you're there killing the penalties. At the end of the day, everyone's going to have their time on ice and everyone's going to have a role in building up this great country,' he said. On the issue of Chinese tariffs on Canadian agriculture and seafood products, the prime minister said he plans to work urgently to have them removed. Carney called it a top priority and said Ottawa is speaking with Chinese officials at the ministerial level. Premier of Manitoba Wab Kinew speaks to media prior to the First Minister's Meeting in Saskatoon on Monday, June 2, 2025. (Liam Richards / The Canadian Press) A statement released after the meeting said premiers want Canada's trading relationship with China to improve. Beijing imposed retaliatory tariffs of 100 per cent on Canadian canola oil and meal, peas and seafood after Ottawa slapped levies on Chinese-made electric vehicles, steel and aluminum. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has said China's tariffs threaten his province's canola industry. Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. Kinew agreed it's a major priority for Manitoba. 'I think it speaks to the fact that we're trying to solve this complex, multi-variable equation: We have the Trump administration on one side and then we have an ascendant People's Republic of China on the other side,' he said. 'I think that this meeting here today of the first ministers… is an important step forward for us being able to have that showdown with China, have that showdown with the Trump administration and make sure that you and your jobs come out on top.' — with files from The Canadian Press Carol SandersLegislature reporter Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol. Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.

Globe and Mail
2 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Why foreign property and casualty insurers are quitting Canada
In the fragmented domestic auto and home insurance industry, the big question is: Who will be next to exit? Last week, U.S. insurance giant Travelers surprised the market by selling its Canadian operations to Waterloo-based Definity Financial Corp. DFY-T for $3.3-billion. New York-based Travelers is the latest in a string of foreign-owned property and casualty (P&C) insurance company to quit the domestic market. Over the past decade, global insurers such as State Farm, AXA and Hartford opted to exit. While there have been numerous departures, there are still more than 150 P&C players competing in a consolidating sector where scale and marketing heft are increasingly critical to success. The vast majority have single-digit market share – Travelers had roughly 2 per cent of the market – and would need to spend billions to bulk up. There are also a handful of Canadian companies – including market leader Intact Financial Corp., Definity, Desjardins Group, Co-operators, Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. and Toronto-Dominion Bank – with ambitions to dominate the sector. Analysts say further auto and home insurer consolidation is as inevitable as highway fender benders on holiday weekends. Toronto-based Intact has moved onto the global stage as part of its consolidation strategy. In 2020, Intact and a Danish insurer acquired London-based RSA Insurance Group PLC, a major player in the Canadian market, for $12.4-billion. Institutional investors are willing to put money into consolidators such as Intact and Definity. Three larger domestic pension plans committed capital to the RSA purchase. Analysis: Why investors love Definity's big acquisition, helping the home and auto insurer extend its hot run For ambitious chief executives such as Intact CEO Charles Brindamour, an accomplished integrator of insurance businesses, the obvious next targets are Allstate Insurance Co. of Canada, which has a Chicago-based parent, and Aviva Insurance Co. of Canada, with an owner in London. Both companies have larger market share than Travelers, but similar challenges when it comes to further expanding their platforms. Both Allstate and Aviva will be looking at the economics behind the Definity deal and making a go-big-or-go-home decision. Travelers built its Canadian platform through acquisitions, highlighted by the 2013 purchase of Dominion of Canada General Insurance Co. for more than $1-billion. (Definity's acquisition of the company brings a business founded by Sir John A. Macdonald in 1887 back into Canadian hands.) Part of Travelers' expansion strategy centred on using a familiar U.S. brand – a red umbrella – to sell insurance north of the border. The campaign never really caught on. In part, that reflects a P&C industry that sells through independent agents, who care more about commissions than umbrellas. It also reflects domestic insurers spending heavily on advertising to sell online through flanker brands such Intact's Belair Direct and Definity-owned Sonnet. These campaigns drowned out Traveler's marketing. Travelers decided to sell at a time when industry dynamics favour P&C insurers, with what's known as a hard market on pricing. The Canadian division sold for 1.8 times its book value, an impressive premium. Travelers plans to use US$700-million of the sale's proceeds to buy back its own stock, a shareholder-friendly move. In soft insurance markets, when P&C insurers discount their rates to win customers, acquirers will offer far smaller premiums to book value on potential purchases. For Allstate and Aviva, this is a seller's market, one that may not last. Definity paid up for Travelers, and devoted the better part of a year negotiating the takeover, because the transaction vaulted the insurer into the country's top five players. The additional scale translates into $100-million a year in annual savings, a significant boost in the company's return on equity and a 30-per-cent increase in premiums. Definity went public in 2021 to do this sort of takeover, after being founded in 1871 as mutual company Economical Insurance, owned by its policyholders. CEO Rowan Saunders said in announcing the Travelers deal that 'this acquisition demonstrates our commitment to long-term growth and competitiveness.' It also avoids having Definity show up on lists of potential takeover targets, alongside Allstate and Aviva. As part of the initial public offering, the company and regulators struck a four-year moratorium on takeovers of Definity. The standstill agreement expires this fall. Buying Travelers should make Definity too large or too expensive for a domestic rival such as Intact to acquire. Or an even more tempting prize.


Globe and Mail
3 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Members of the Power Workers' Union ratify collective agreement
TORONTO, June 2, 2025 /CNW/ - Hydro One Inc. (Hydro One) and the Power Workers' Union (PWU) are pleased to announce that PWU members have ratified the tentative agreement reached on May 5, 2025. The new agreement is effective from October 1, 2025, to March 31, 2028, and combines the main and Customer Service Organization agreements into one, covering front-line and customer-facing roles.