Under outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s leadership, Canada reaffirmed its commitment to responsible AI development at the AI Action Summit in Paris this week as the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) grow further apart in their approaches to regulating the tech.
Canada split from the US delegation in its signing of the Statement on Inclusive and Sustainable AI.
The two-day summit, co-hosted by France and India, brought together politicians, tech CEOs, researchers, and non-profit organizations from more than 100 countries to discuss international and country-specific AI policy. The Canadian delegation included AI companies such as Cohere and organizations like the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.
At the Summit, Canada signed an international treaty and a statement that prioritized human rights, accessibility, and transparency in AI development. Alongside Trudeau’s public remarks, the signing indicates an alignment with the EU’s pro-regulatory approach to AI while the new US administration decries “excessive” regulation.
Canadian tech companies, meanwhile, have had mixed reactions.
Split decision
In Paris, Canada signed the first legally binding international AI treaty, which it helped develop. The treaty establishes common guidelines for countries to follow when writing AI-related policy. Stated goals of the convention included strengthening global co-operation and protecting citizens against potential harms while capitalizing on the tech’s benefits.
The legal framework already counts 11 countries and the EU as signatories. The US and the United Kingdom (UK) first signed the agreement in September 2024.
Canada signed it on Feb. 11, showing a commitment to prioritizing human rights and global collaboration in AI development. The Canadian government said in a statement that it had previously “sought views on the convention” from Canadian experts, Indigenous groups, and the public.
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Canada split from the US delegation in its signing of the joint Statement on Inclusive and Sustainable AI. The key tenets of the statement include ensuring AI is “open, inclusive, transparent, ethical, safe, secure and trustworthy.” Sustainability and energy consumption are also considerations, as data centres use significant energy, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.
Neither the US nor the UK signed the agreement, indicating a divergence between Western nations on how tightly AI development should be regulated.
In a Feb. 10 speech in Paris, Trudeau emphasized the need for guardrails and transparency to ensure that everyone can benefit from AI advances, not just a handful of “oligarchs.”
The Prime Minister added that regulation is needed to protect against misuse of AI, including “cunning disinformation.” The remarks echoed those he made last Friday during a closed-door portion of the Canada-US Economic Summit in Toronto.
“How do we make sure that AI and the tools that come with it are used responsibly as a way of empowering citizens to be able to make more informed choices about their lives, about their work, about their future?” Trudeau said at the Toronto summit, according to recordings BetaKit obtained of the closed-door sessions.
AI optimism, fear, and complexity
However, Trudeau also noted in his Paris speech that “heavy-handed” regulation should not come at the cost of innovation. Some EU initiatives seeking to regulate patents and online privacy have now fallen through, alongside Canada’s Bill C-27 and its Artificial Intelligence and Data Act.
In Paris, the new US administration went further in its rhetoric. US Vice-President JD Vance told conference attendees that his administration would champion pro-growth, deregulatory AI policies. The US plans to be the “partner of choice” for AI implementation worldwide and “excessive” regulation would “kill a transformative sector,” Vance said.
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Some Canadian tech leaders welcomed this approach. Shopify president Harley Finkelstein reposted the speech with the caption: “He nails it. Optimism over fear.”
To Sara Hooker, VP of Research at Cohere, Vance’s speech was a marker of the summit’s “complexity.” She wrote on X that it was part of a wider trend, noting that “even the EU seems at pains to say that safety should be balanced with innovation.”
Yesterday, Cohere was sued by a group of 14 publishers, including the owner of the Toronto Star, for alleged copyright infringement. The AI company had previously signed Canada’s voluntary AI code of conduct, which does not mention copyright.
Hooker added that despite more countries attending the summit, “the overall trend was one of realism and fault lines fell along national boundaries,” as opposed to global collaboration.
Canada’s AI policy commitments come during Trudeau’s last days in office, after announcing he would resign once the Liberal Party picks a new leader. Trudeau’s commitments in Paris could represent some of the leader’s last impacts on Canadian AI policy, with Bill C-27 unlikely to be revived now after Parliament returns with a new Liberal leader in place and an election likely to follow.
However, Canada will continue its work on global AI policy when it hosts the G7 Summit in Alberta in June. At a roundtable with other world leaders on Sunday, Trudeau said that conversations on powering AI with clean electricity will be a priority at the Summit—though, at that point, he won’t be in office to lead them.
Feature image courtesy Justin Trudeau via LinkedIn.