Canada Announces $2.4 billion AI Package
Canada has announced a $2.4 billion package to ‘build and provide access to computing capabilities and technological infrastructure for Canada’s AI researchers, start-ups, and scale-ups’.
Key Takeaways:
Significant Investment in AI: There is a focus on accelerating job growth, boosting productivity, and ensuring AI is developed and adopted responsibly.
Focus on Infrastructure: There is a focus on building computing capabilities, providing support for AI startups, and accelerating AI adoption in critical sectors (e.g agriculture, healthcare, and manufacturing).
Support for Workers: There is a focus on putting measures in place to support workers impacted by AI (e.g providing skills training programs, and supporting small and medium-sized businesses to adopt AI solutions).
Emphasis on Safety and Regulation: Funding has been allocated for the establishment of a Canadian AI Safety Institute (it will be interesting to see if this will function similarly to the UK’s AISI which sits in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology ).
Public Awareness and Trust: There is a focus on boosting public awareness and fostering trust in AI technologies (e.g through education and engagement with communities).
Canada's AI Leadership: There is a emphasis on leveraging Canada’s AI ecosystem and maintaining a ‘competitive edge’ by investing in AI.