MDA Space loses EchoStar, Apple trims the iPhone’s waist, and is there life on Mars?

Elon Musk-owned SpaceX swooped in to deny Canadarm manufacturer MDA Space a $1.8 billion CAD contract with EchoStar. MDA signed on as the prime contractor for EchoStar’s new low-earth-orbit direct-to-device satellite constellation last month, but that contract is now terminated.

Toronto Western Hospital performed the first-ever Neuralink brain-computer interface implant surgeries outside of the United States. They were part of a four-year clinical trial evaluating the safety and functionality of Neuralink’s implant and surgical robot.

Intuit’s office is located at The Well, which is home to 3.1 million square feet of retail, office, and residential space spread over 7.7 acres. Take a look inside Intuit’s Toronto office here.

Schweitzer served as Alberta’s innovation minister before joining forces with Athennian co-founder Josh Malate to launch Ultimarii. The company aims to help big infrastructure builders get projects approved more quickly.

Evolo has developed an AI software suite that generates short-form videos customers can interact with when shopping for complex products like mortgages and life insurance plans. The approach is similar to a choose-your-own-adventure story format, where readers or viewers make choices that determine the outcome of a narrative.

Waterloo Tech Week was organized by the student-led team behind the Hack the North hackathon. According to University of Waterloo student Ian Korovinsky, the team worked to scope a weeklong event that “truly represents the student builder community here while still engaging everyone else as well.”

Maybe. A scientific team with researchers from the University of Alberta, the University of Winnipeg, and Brock University claims to have discovered a potential “biosignature” on Mars. 

Based on samples collected by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover, the biosignature may suggest the presence of past or present life, but scientists say further study is still required.

Carney will ask his newly launched Major Projects Office to help develop a “Canadian sovereign cloud.”

The Prime Minister said that building compute capacity and data centres “will give Canada independent control over advanced computing power while reinforcing our leadership in AI and quantum.”

Apple unveiled a new generation of AirPods, Apple Watches, and the new iPhone Air at a reveal event this week. Measuring in at 5.6 millimetres, the Air is Apple’s thinnest iPhone to date. 

OpenAI is aiding in the development of an animated adventure film called Critterz. 

The AI giant wants to prove that its tech can make movies faster and cheaper than Hollywood by feeding artist sketches into its image-generating tools, according to the Wall Street Journal.