The leaders of Group of Seven (G7) nations concluded the annual summit in Kananaskis, Alta., with six joint commitments, including some that addressed tech like artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing.
The G7 nations reached consensus on a “common vision” for the future of quantum technologies, recognized the “potential” for AI to grow prosperity, and came up with a critical minerals action plan. The Prime Minister’s Office also highlighted Canada’s financial backing for each of these areas, including $22.5 million to accelerate the development and use of quantum technologies, $80.3 million to build reliable critical minerals supply chains, and up to $185.6 million to accelerate the adoption and commercialization of AI.
The G7 is an informal grouping of seven of the world’s largest economies, consisting of leaders from France, the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Canada.
Quantum
In the joint statement on quantum computing, the G7 leaders committed to promoting public and private investment in quantum technologies, as well as its adoption.
“We acknowledge that achieving quantum technologies’ full potential will require international collaboration between governments, researchers and industry to mobilize investments and optimize resources,” the statement reads.
The leaders also agreed to recognize that a global regulatory framework for quantum “is not yet appropriate” given it’s in the early stages of innovation. Despite this, the joint statement acknowledged there are risks associated with quantum tech, and vowed to promote the timely adoption of quantum-resilient security measures.
“Trusted, values-aligned collaboration with industry will be essential to ensure that these investments translate into scalable capabilities.”
Lisa Lambert
Quantum Industry Canada
While much of the commitments were expressions of general goals and values, the leaders did agree to collaborate through a G7 Joint Working Group on Quantum Technologies. The group will consist of industry, experts, and academia cooperating on research, development, and commercialization, according to the statement. This can include voluntary joint calls for projects between different members, policy dialogues, and assessing the potential societal impacts of the tech as it progresses towards commercial and defense applications.
In a statement, Quantum Industry Canada CEO Lisa Lambert called the working group a “particularly important step.”
“Trusted, values-aligned collaboration with industry will be essential to ensure that these investments translate into scalable capabilities—for both economic competitiveness and national resilience,” Lambert said.
The Prime Minister’s office backed up the statement with a $22.5-million financial commitment over three years to facilitate collaboration on quantum research, development, and commercialization.
Artificial intelligence
In order to realize their vision of AI that helps grow prosperity, the leaders acknowledged they must better “drive innovation” and adopt “secure, responsible, and trustworthy AI that benefits people, mitigates negative externalities, and promotes” national security. This came with many commitments.
For starters, the leaders committed to work together to accelerate the adoption of AI in the public sector, as well as support small-and-medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) in doing the same. To achieve this, Canada is launching the “G7 GovAI Grand Challenge,” and will host a series of “Rapid Solution Labs” meant to help further adopt AI in the public sector. This follows Prime Minister Carney’s mandate letter that called for the government to deploy AI “at scale.”
The leaders also agreed to establish a G7 AI Network (GAIN) to support the initiative, as well as develop a roadmap to scale successful AI projects and create a catalogue of open-source and shareable AI solutions for members. To support SMEs, the G7 said it would launch an AI Adoption Roadmap to provide pathways for companies to adopt AI and scale their businesses. Through this roadmap, the leaders also committed to sustaining investments in AI adoption programs for SMEs, including supporting access to compute and digital infrastructure.
RELATED: Alberta’s tech sector is embracing an AI data centre boom. Will it pay off?
Providing more detail on the adoption roadmap, the leaders said they intend to double down on AI adoption efforts that connect research to practical applications, but claimed they recognized the need to respect intellectual property rights while doing so. OpenAI and Cohere are among some major AI firms that have been hit with lawsuits alleging copyright infringement.
The joint statement does acknowledge the countries have to “meet the energy challenges of AI,” doing so by supporting innovation that improves the energy and resource efficiency of AI models and optimizes data centre operations. While traditional data centres require between five and 10 megawatts (MW) of power, one AI “hyperscale” data centre typically demands more than 100 MW, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
“We task relevant Ministers to advance these commitments by delivering a workplan on AI and energy, before the end of this year, including working with international and industry partners to provide ongoing data analysis,” the statement reads.
Canada’s $185.6-million financial backing of this commitment is broken down into three projects, the largest of which is called “AI for Growth.” This project earmarks $174 million over three years to boost AI adoption rates through continued investment in Canada’s National AI Institutes and Global Innovation Clusters. The federal government is also backing a call for proposals on AI and Energy with $10 million, and supporting the IEA with $145,000 in funding for key energy-related projects.
Feature image courtesy Mark Carney via X.