The Canadian government has allocated $66 million to various artificial intelligence projects in the country to assist them in gaining access to computational resources for commercialization and expansion, as revealed by AI Minister Evan Solomon on Tuesday. These funds, to be shared among 44 projects, are sourced from the federal AI Compute Access Fund, which currently holds a total budget of $300 million.
During the Web Summit Vancouver, Solomon unveiled the initial group of recipients and expressed enthusiasm over the high demand for computational resources and innovation within the economy. The selected projects span diverse sectors of the Canadian economy, such as life sciences, healthcare, energy, advanced manufacturing, agriculture, finance, natural resources, and transportation.
Among the winners is Variational AI, a Vancouver-based firm founded by Handol Kim, focusing on AI applications in drug discovery by producing small molecules licensable to biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Kim emphasized the significant support the funding provides, enabling their machine learning scientists to access the necessary computational resources vital for enhancing their models, ultimately leading to improved drug development to address medical needs.
The AI Compute Access Fund aids successful projects by covering between $100,000 and $5 million in compute costs. The program supports two-thirds of eligible expenses for Canadian cloud-based AI compute services and half of eligible costs for non-Canadian cloud-based AI compute services. Project selection criteria include market potential, financial capacity, economic benefits to Canada, alignment with federal priorities, and innovative aspects.
Prime Minister Mark Carney mentioned that more details about the government’s AI vision and plans will be disclosed in the upcoming national strategy, which he indicated is on the verge of release, although no specific date was provided. The strategy, which has faced delays, focuses on pillars like protecting Canadians, empowering citizens, fostering AI adoption, building a Canadian AI foundation, supporting local champions, and establishing international partnerships.
In addition to the funding announcement, the federal government is collaborating with Telus on expanding data center infrastructure in British Columbia, including a proposal for new facilities in Kamloops, downtown Vancouver, and Mount Pleasant. While federal funding is not currently involved in these projects, potential future agreements or contracts could play a role based on project developments.