'Nobody will wait for us': Tech sector says urgency is key for new AI minister Evan Solomon
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Canada's first-ever minister of artificial intelligence and digital innovation will need to accelerate the build-out of the country's AI infrastructure while cultivating trust in the technology in the general public — and many in the industry are warning there will be little room for trial and error along the way.
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Last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney named former journalist Evan Solomon to the newly created post, which will have him oversee the country's adoption of the much-hyped technology. Carney has promised to run a lean and efficient government focused on growth and productivity, with technologies such as AI playing a crucial role in keeping Canada competitive and self-reliant.
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'We were one of the first countries to come out with an AI policy roadmap in 2017. (But Canada's leadership position) has slipped away in the last few years,' said Rob Goehring, executive director of industry group AI in B.C. and chief executive of cybersecurity firm WisrAI.
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In 2021, Canada ranked fourth worldwide on the Global AI Index, a data project from U.K. digital media site Tortoise that tracks countries' AI capacity based on implementation, innovation and investment. By 2024, Canada had dropped to eighth place behind countries such as Germany, France and South Korea.
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Carney has pledged to build on the Trudeau government's AI commitments, meaning existing commitments to channel $2.5 billion over the next two years to further AI and digital infrastructure projects, such as building data centres, expanding cloud computing capacity and procuring cutting-edge chips will likely be maintained.
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The full scope of what Solomon and the government will add to that strategy has yet to be revealed, but industry players say the need for urgency is essential.
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'It's critical that we invest and move at a fast pace, because it's clear that nobody will wait for us,' said Julien Billot, CEO of Montreal-based Scale AI, a federally-backed supercluster that helps industry adopt AI technologies.
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That means prioritizing the cultivation of AI talent and keeping it here, while helping researchers and businesses optimize existing resources to 'build smaller and more energy-efficient models … instead of trying to build from scratch.'
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