Canada will gain access to a European supercomputer program and align upcoming real-time payment systems as the Canadian government forges closer ties with Europe on a broad array of issues, including the digital economy.
The Destination Earth program is “one of Europe’s most strategic data assets.”
Henna Virkkunen
European Commission
Prime Minister Mark Carney and the European Commission announced their intention to work together on several economic and trade priorities on Friday, through a so-called “Alliance for the Future.” In addition to collaborating on energy exports, defence contracts, and student exchange programs, Canada and Europe are partnering to share access to supercomputing infrastructure—high in demand in the age of AI—and to work on digital climate modelling.
Canada has joined the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking, a network of compute infrastructure that includes 14 supercomputers, 10 quantum computers, and 19 “AI factories” across Europe. Researchers and businesses in Canada will be able to apply to access JUPITER, a powerful supercomputer located in Germany, the government said.
“It means access to a compute power no one can build alone,” AI and digital innovation minister Evan Solomon said at the announcement in Montréal on Friday.
Canada is also building its own public AI supercomputer under an $890-million program. The government hasn’t yet announced which non-profit, post-secondary institution, or consortium will be selected to lead the project. Solomon said this would come “early in the new year.”
In an interview with BetaKit, the minister indicated that Canada would be open to having its new supercomputer be part of the European network once it’s built.
Another project Canada will contribute to is Destination Earth, a climate modelling initiative by the European Commission that aims to develop a digital twin of the Earth. With highly accurate geographical data, the European Union-funded project could offer tools to predict extreme weather events and inform policy to adapt to the effects of climate change.
“This is one of Europe’s most strategic data assets,” said Henna Virkkunen, the European Commission’s executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy.
Several other items outlined in Carney’s announcement concerned the tech sector. Canada and Europe said they would take the first steps toward a new transatlantic data cable that would “give Canada and Europe a direct, secure route for rapid data exchange” and for internet traffic. Currently, roughly 80 percent of Canada’s internet traffic gets routed through the US, according to the Centre for International Governance Innovation.
On payments technology, the announcement said the European Commission would support connecting instant payment systems to allow Canadians and Europeans to send money instantly. After years of delay, Canada’s Real-Time Rail system is still forthcoming but expected to launch a first phase this fall.
Officials considering AI regulatory body
On day one of the Canada-EU Summit on Thursday, Canada announced it was taking a financial stake in Toronto AI company Cohere, which is partnering with and effectively acquiring Germany’s AI leader Aleph Alpha. The further alignment on tech comes as the Canadian government has floated the idea of spearheading a “technology stability board,” akin to the Financial Stability Board, to regulate AI models internationally.
While Solomon said there were several ways such a body might come into being—through G7 or G20 countries, for example—he told BetaKit there is a “profound, shared interest that Canada and the EU have to make sure that citizens are safe, and that frontier models…are regulated to keep our critical infrastructure safe.”
Virkkunen added that Europe already has the AI Act, which it has begun to enforce this year.
“The challenge is that we don’t have these kinds of rules internationally, but the risks are very global,” she said.
Feature image courtesy Madison McLauchlan for BetaKit.