Cohere co-founder Nick Frosst says Canada needs to build more nuclear power plants to encourage sovereign tech development. And he believes growing that capacity could get Canada to “100 percent” renewable energy.
The news: The call to action came during a panel at Toronto Tech Week’s Homecoming event themed around sovereignty, moderated by Build Canada CEO Lucy Hargreaves, with Frosst, Dominion Dynamics CEO Eliot Pence, and Kepler Communications CEO Mina Mitry.
Panellists discussed the renewal of Canada’s defence industry and what “sovereignty” means in practice. During the discussion, Frosst argued nuclear power plants should be a key part of Canada’s sovereign technology stack.
From the source: “We just need more nuclear power plants,” Frosst said. “There’s been great progress, great work on small nuclear reactors.”
The Cohere co-founder added that he uses GridWatch, an app that tracks electricity consumption in Ontario. “We’re at 55 percent nuclear,” he said. “We’re at close to 85 percent renewable, and I believe we could be at 100 [percent].”
The best of Toronto Tech Week
BetaKit is Toronto Tech Week’s official media partner. Read all of our coverage here.
“We could have more green energy, and that’s going to give us more independence as a country,” he added.
Following the thread: Increasing use of AI—fuelled by companies like Cohere—has grown energy demand. This month, the Canadian government announced a national electricity strategy that aims to double the capacity of the country’s power grid by 2050. But, in addition to pledging clean electricity projects like new hydroelectric, wind, and nuclear sites, Ottawa has signed an agreement with the province of Alberta to approve a new oil pipeline project.
Final thought: About 15 percent of Canada’s electricity is produced by four nuclear power plants in Ontario and New Brunswick, and Ontario is working to bring its first small modular reactor (SMR) online by 2030. However, total nuclear power generation actually declined in Canada from 2016 to 2024. While the Carney government is spending big on SMRs, oil and gas projects are equally getting support—potentially cutting into the ratio of renewable energy.
BetaKit is the official media partner of Toronto Tech Week.
Feature image courtesy Sarah Rieger for BetaKit.