Overview
- The AI Strategy Task Force will bring together about 20 leaders from industry, academia and civil society to deliver bold, practical recommendations on research, commercialization, compute, talent, and safety.
- Ottawa will open public consultations in early October, the task force will report in November, and a refreshed national AI strategy is slated for later this year—nearly two years ahead of the original schedule.
- Minister Evan Solomon says the government will not revive the previous AI-specific bill and will instead prioritize updates to privacy and data-protection laws, including measures addressing deepfakes and protections for children.
- The effort centers on digital sovereignty and keeping Canadian AI value, intellectual property and data under domestic control, with an emphasis on scaling companies and boosting adoption at home.
- Solomon also teased a major quantum initiative in October aimed at retaining talent and IP, building on the April 2024 pledge of $2 billion to expand Canadian AI computing capacity.