The federal government has opened a web portal for the $300-million artificial intelligence (AI) Compute Access Fund, meant to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) access financial support for AI compute infrastructure.
The fund is looking for Canadian-incorporated companies with fewer than 500 employees that are generating revenue or have raised Series A financing. Applicants must be developing AI products or services, and have a commercialization plan with an existing AI compute service agreement in place. The web portal prompts businesses to submit their interest for applications, which are set to open this spring.
The feds’ AI file has been quite active in recent weeks.
The fund is the latest component of the Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy, unveiled in December, which outlines how the federal government is deploying Budget 2024’s $2-billion CAD commitment to AI computing power.
The federal government also unveiled more details on the $705-million component of the strategy last month. The AI Sovereign Compute Infrastructure Program is seeking proposals from organizations and consortiums that demonstrate in-depth knowledge of Canada’s public computing infrastructure and ability to support Canada’s research ecosystem. The Government of Canada will accept proposals until April 14, 2025.
AI compute, which is typically provided by chips and data centres, refers to computational resources required for AI systems to perform tasks like processing data, running algorithms, and training machine learning models, as well as the immense energy needed to cool and power them.The first investment from the program went to Toronto-based AI startup Cohere, which received $240 million to support its plan to build a multi-billion dollar AI data centre in Canada.
The federal government’s AI file has been quite active in recent weeks, having recently refreshed the members of its AI Advisory Council and releasing the first-ever AI strategy for the federal public service. CIBC, Clir, Cofomo, Intel Corporation, Jolera, and PaymentEvolution also signed on to the feds’ voluntary AI code of conduct.
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Among the changes to the AI advisory council is the addition of Mila scientific director Yoshua Bengio as chair of the Safe and Secure AI Advisory Group. Bengio takes the lead in providing advice on risks emerging from the development and deployment of AI systems across the economy.
The AI strategy for the federal public service is meant to help the government implement AI by removing barriers to adoption that exist in departmental processes and legacy systems. It outlines four priority areas, including establishing an AI Centre of Expertise, ensuring AI systems are secure and used responsibly, training and talent development pathways, and building trust in AI use through transparency. The strategy also highlighted some AI “no-go areas” found through public consultations, including decisions on criminal justice cases, hiring, social service eligibility, mass data collection, and policy decisions without human input.
Outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to responsible AI development at the AI Action Summit in Paris last month. While there, Canada signed a binding 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.
Feature image courtesy Minister Champagne via LinkedIn.