Telus opens inaugural Sovereign AI Factory in Rimouski

Canadian telecommunications giant Telus has opened its first “Sovereign AI Factory” in Rimouski, Que., as political focus turns to Canada’s sovereign data capabilities.

Telus announced in March it would upgrade the AI compute power of its Rimouski facility with the help of global semiconductor manufacturer Nvidia. The refreshed facility is intended to help Canadian businesses, researchers, and innovators unlock advanced AI capabilities while storing their data under Canadian control.

“We believe that this is the right thing to do for Canada, and is all part of Prime Minister Carney’s call to action to build Canada.”

The facility helps organizations of all types develop new AI models, fine-tune existing ones, and deploy them into business operations on a pay-as-you-go basis, Telus chief information officer Hesham Fahmy told BetaKit in an interview.

“We don’t like calling it a data centre, because a data centre is just the infrastructure that’s inside,” Fahmy said. “A factory is when you can actually produce output from it.”

The telecom has already secured partnerships with Canadian healthcare software provider League, enterprise software firm OpenText, and global consultancy Accenture to use its sovereign facility. League hit a customer milestone earlier this year that it credited to demand for its AI offerings, and Kitchener-Waterloo-based OpenText cut 1,600 jobs to make AI its “number one priority.”

Data centres and AI consume a notoriously large amount of energy, with data centre power demand expected to grow 160 percent by 2030 due to increased AI use, according to a May 2024 report from Goldman Sachs. However, Telus claims its Sovereign AI Factory is powered by 99 percent renewable energy sources, primarily through hydroelectric power.

Telus has pledged to turn its data centre in Kamloops, BC, into a Sovereign AI Factory next, and will continue to add more across the country as demand increases, Fahmy told BetaKit.

“We understand where we will build, how we will build, and what the lead times are,” Fahmy said. “When we see [demand] trigger certain points, then we will execute on the next parts of our plan.”

Sovereign data has become a talking point as Canada’s relationship with the United States (US) changes. Prime Minister Mark Carney deemed it an inaugural priority of his Major Projects Office, and its importance was reiterated by AI minister Evan Solomon at ALL IN this week.

The CLOUD Act allows the US to compel any US-based company to provide electronic data to its authorities, no matter where it is stored globally. Fahmy told BetaKit that such laws would not apply to its sovereign facility.

“It’s fully owned and operated by Canadians and by Canadian entities [who] all report and have to abide by Canadian laws and regulations,” Fahmy said, adding that Telus has not received any federal funding despite applying for compute funds.

“We’re not waiting and relying on that funding,” Fahmy said. “We believe that this is the right thing to do for Canada, and is all part of Prime Minister Carney’s call to action to build Canada.”

Feature image courtesy Telus.