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Canada has announced plans to launch a dedicated fund to develop AI infrastructure in order to grow startups and create a new AI safety institute, among others.
Details Of The Fund
Canada is dedicating an amount of $1.76 Billion equivalent to 2.4 Billion CAD of its federal budget, to promote its artificial intelligence sector and maintain the country’s “competitive edge” in AI.
The government developed and revealed a new range of measures, including investing in artificial intelligence-related startups, medium-sized businesses, and research firms to “secure Canada’s AI advantage.”
On April 7, Justin Tradeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, shared a statement, stated “The rapid advance of generative AI today will unlock immense economic potential for Canada, significantly improving productivity and reducing the time workers have to spend on repetitive tasks.”
In Montreal, PM Justin Trudeau announces a $2.4-billion package from the upcoming federal budget to build capacity in artificial intelligence.#cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/AbNlOrX2kd
— CPAC (@CPAC_TV) April 7, 2024
Segregation & Utilization Of Funds
The package of measures will see $1.47 Billion invested in building computing capabilities and other AI-related infrastructure through the country’s new AI Compute Access Fund, which will be used to support the country’s leading AI researchers and startups.
Another $147 Million will be invested in AI startups in agriculture technology, healthcare and manufacturing industries. Another $73.5 Million will be allotted to small and medium-sized AI scale-up companies to boost productivity.
He added, “This will create good-paying opportunities for every generation, boost innovation across the economy, raise productivity, and accelerate economic growth.”
He further noted that the major developments in drug discovery, energy efficiency and housing innovation have already been leveraged by the development and growth of AI in the industry.
The fund will also serve to try to provide job opportunities to those whose jobs will get affected by the implementation of AI. It will receive around $36.8 Million under Canada’s sectoral workforce solutions program to re-train and re-skill across a range of industries.
The remaining $36.8 Million will be utilized to build a Canadian AI Safety Institute to further the safe development and deployment of AI.
The Canadian government boasts of being the first country in the world to introduce a national AI safety policy when it introduced the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy in 2017. It aims to drive the adoption of AI through research and commercialization.
Canada’s AI Market
According to the data from Statista, the AI market in Canada is correctly worth approximately $7.4 Billion. The size of the AI market in the USA is around $106 Billion. A part of Canada’s AI strategy has also been involved in the attempts to recruit several emerging AI firms from the European Union.
Tenstorrent, one of Canada’s leading start-ups, partnered with Samsung, a manufacturing conglomerate based in South Korea. The partnership was confirmed in October 2023. The objective of the partnership is to help develop the next generation of AI chiplets to market.
Two months before the announcement of the partnership, Tenstorrent closed a $100 Million funding round led by Samsung and the automotive manufacturer Hyundai.
Anurag is working as a fundamental writer for The Coin Republic since 2021. He likes to exercise his curious muscles and research deep into a topic. Though he covers various aspects of the crypto industry, he is quite passionate about the Web3, NFTs, Gaming, and Metaverse, and envisions them as the future of the (digital) economy. A reader & writer at heart, he calls himself an “average guitar player” and a fun footballer.
