Owning the engine: The case for sovereign AI

Canada’s AI Imperative: Forging a Sovereign Tech Future for Unprecedented Productivity

The Canadian Sovereign AI Alliance, a collaboration including Bell and Coveo, aims to position Canada at the forefront of the artificial intelligence revolution. Mr. Mirko Bibic, CEO of BCE Bell Canada, emphasized the alliance’s vision to seize the AI moment while protecting Canadian sovereignty, national security, and boosting productivity. This initiative seeks to foster economic growth by leveraging AI in a controlled and secure manner, ensuring Canada benefits from this transformative technology.

Mr. Louis Tetu, Executive Chairman of Coveo, clarified that true sovereignty means immunity to geopolitics, preventing external entities from compelling access to Canadian data, except under Canadian law. He stressed the need for robust infrastructure where control and governance remain within Canada. This “railroad moment” for Canada requires building a comprehensive technology stack, including advanced networks, 5G, fiber, satellites, AI compute, secure cloud services, and strong identity and trust mechanisms.

The alliance measures success through enhanced productivity and strengthened sovereignty. Mr. Tetu highlighted Canada’s need to improve its OECD productivity ranking, viewing AI as a crucial opportunity. A key objective is to achieve AI adoption by approximately 100,000 Canadian companies by the end of the decade, integrating AI deeply into their operations to drive significant economic gains and national prosperity.

Mr. Bibic underscored the importance of avoiding past errors, such as the “brain drain” and intellectual property export experienced during the internet and app economy eras. He noted that AI, still in its early stages, offers a unique chance to establish a Canadian-centric ecosystem. This approach aims to prevent the commoditization of infrastructure and ensure that the economic benefits generated by AI remain within Canada, fostering domestic innovation and growth.

The alliance is developing a full Canadian tech stack, featuring contributions from Bell AI fabric for infrastructure, Cohere for large language models, Coveo for data relevancy, ThinkCon for cloud services, Celestica for electronics engineering, and Hypertec for specialized AI servers. This integrated offering ensures a “made in Canada” solution, controlled by Canadians and operating under Canadian law, even when incorporating global technologies.

Regarding federal regulations, Mr. Bibic expressed optimism about the government’s focus on AI as an economic enabler. He called for an ambitious, actionable AI strategy with clear roadmaps, milestones, and key performance indicators, moving beyond generic statements. The strategy should implement necessary “scaffolding” to mitigate risks without impeding innovation and investment, striking a balance between protection and progress.

Mr. Tetu advocated for a robust industrial policy to capitalize on Canada’s significant AI talent, noting that Canada trains 10% of the world’s AI experts. The policy should prioritize re-importing talent, retaining intellectual property, and industrializing technology for widespread adoption. This holistic approach must consider the entire value chain—energy, networks, data centers, compute, cloud services, applications, and system integrators—to avoid fragmented “science projects” and ensure aggressive investment for a national leapfrog in productivity.