The AI strategy is (finally) here. Read BetaKit's first overview file of it via @alexriehl.com betakit.com/canadas-ai-s...

Canada's AI champion Cohere says it's not working with controversial data firm Palantir, despite reports of a partnership. betakit.com/cohere-says-...

Jim Balsillie’s core argument is not that Canada lacks ambition. It's that Canada is still using an economic playbook built for another century.

While 'shovels in the ground' is an important metric to guage government effectivness, so is keeping cutting-edge Canadian companies/startups here in Canada. Some clear wins outlined at the @betakit.com town hall this week:

Proud moment for BetaKit: Josh Scott and @madisonmcla.bsky.social have both been named finalists for a SABEW Best in Business award. 🏆 Congrats to Josh and Madison on this well-deserved recognition.

Oh no

Is your workplace encouraging you to use AI? Or is your office AI free? Fill out our survey to let us know: betakit.com/are-you-toke...

not worrying at all

"Stakeholders were divided between optimism for AI’s potential and skepticism about its risks." That's a line from the feds' summary report from its public consultations on its upcoming AI strategy. But we had no idea how many people felt one way or another. We set out to find out:

Was inevitable that Canada's government-crowned AI champion would partner with a foreign firm? In The BetaKit Newsletter, @madisonmcla.bsky.social highlights the AI sovereignty challenges facing middle powers, and how the Cohere and Aleph Alpha partnership fits in. betakit.com/in-ai-its-us...

Canada's Cohere to acquire Germany’s Aleph Alpha in sovereign AI play. The combined company will continue under the Cohere name and Aidan Gomez will remain CEO. via @alexriehl.com @betakit.com betakit.com/cohere-to-ac...

Canadian FinTech Wealthsimple has launched a trading integration with Elon Musk's X platform. Here's how it's stirring praise, and backlash, from some users.

Toronto's Kepler Communications has landed another contract with the European Space Agency (@esa.int) for its HydRON ELement 3 project. #CDNtech

New: @mozilla.org is partnering with @mila-quebec.bsky.social to work on open-source AI projects, with an initial $1 million CAD betakit.com/mila-teams-u...

Canadian software firm OpenText #$OTEX employees report job cuts tied to apparent restructuring, via @alexriehl.com betakit.com/opentext-emp...

Pretty cool news today for Montréal, Québec, and Canada. @umontreal.ca Gilles Brassard was awarded computer science's highest honour for his quantum breakthroughs, alongside longtime collaborator Charles H. Bennett betakit.com/montreal-com...

We functionally do not have a legislated Access to Information system in Canada. Federal departments face zero consequences for simply ignoring the rules. They are effectively allowed to only hand over documents if they feel like it. www.thestar.com/politics/fed...

Canadian tech advocacy group CCI argues that governments should take a similar 'buy Canadian' approach to #healthtech as it did for the Defence Industrial Strategy: betakit.com/cci-wants-go...

I got to hear from some of the architects and builders of the Fediverse at FediMTL in Montréal yesterday. I learned a ton about decentralized social media and how it's taken on newfound urgency with Canada's push toward digital sovereignty. betakit.com/can-canada-f...

Talking about the Fediverse often feels like it merits a "stop trying to make fetch happen" response. But at a recent conference in Montréal, advocates said figuring out how to build a decentralized web people will actually use is a must. betakit.com/can-canada-f... by @madisonmcla.bsky.social

Such a good deep dive into Quebec quantum history

I joined @trondizzle.bsky.social on the @betakit.com Podcast to talk about an anonymous feedback report on Crown corporation BDC, and why it matters for Canadian tech. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngmk...

BC's Photonic is claiming that it teleported quantum information over 30km of Telus fibre-optic cable, as the company looks to make #quantum business-ready betakit.com/photonic-cla...

The small-town paper in Tumbler Ridge is going to need support. This is its front page right now. Their subscription page is here: www.patreon.com/tumblerridge...

Montréal's Haply Robotics has raised $16 million CAD from Sound Media Ventures, Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund, Hanwha Asset Management Fund, Two Small Fish Ventures, and BDC Capital. The startup is building the "touch layer" of how humans and robots interact.

The federal government used AI to summarize its consultations with Evan Solomon's AI task force. We used a human reporter. BetaKit's Josh Scott undertook a heroic effort to sort through all 348 pages of task force submissions. Here's his summary.

Resharing some fantastic @washingtonpost.com journalism in the wake of massive cuts there. What’s happening is awful and will certainly erode our information ecosystem.

Ok.

Super interesting interview:

Canadian bioeconomy companies are driving economic returns: 84 early-stage biotech firms generated nearly $900M in GDP over recent years, according to new data from Natural Products Canada.

Toronto's Alexi has escalated a legal fight with Clio and its subsidiary Fastcase by filing a counterclaim that includes antitrust allegations. Alexi claims the litigation has thwarted acquisition interest and forced it to lay off 2/3 of staff. #legaltech

I thought this was pretty cool

Canadian social media management firm Hootsuite is providing monitoring tech to the US government's immigration enforcement agency. Via @betakit.com reporter Josh Scott and myself. betakit.com/hootsuite-dh...

Researchers at Mila in Montréal are tackling one of the most concerning issues in #AI right now: chatbot-induced mental health crises. It's also, Simona Gandrabur tells me, really difficult to get real-world data. betakit.com/mila-researc...

"There’s a lot of money being invested ... with an assumption of having a walled garden. Ultimately, I don’t think that’s worked in the interest of the consumer." Calgary fintech CEO @nicbeique.bsky.social on why he sees open finance as the future. betakit.com/helcim-takes...

It’s Legault-ver

SO COOL. Read my brilliant friend's research!!!

SSENSE founders' bid to buy back company successful, pending approvals betakit.com/ssense-found...

More details on the Ubisoft Halifax @ubisofthalifax.bsky.social closure story: a former employee and union rep told BetaKit employees were "blindsided" by the closure, and that the majority of the team was working towards an "aggressive" February project deadline.

xAI's Grok chatbot has been creating non-consensual, sexually explicit images of women and children. The patchwork of laws that cover the generation, hosting, and sharing of this material in Canada is messy at best. Via @betakit.com reporter @madisonmcla.bsky.social betakit.com/groks-non-co...

You can find a response from Solomon's office, as well as more context on Canada's patchwork of deepfake laws, in my story here: betakit.com/groks-non-co...

If you follow Canadian tech, add @betakit.com as a preferred source on Google: betakit.com/how-to-see-b...

New Canadian lifestyle-focused media outlet By the North launched yesterday. Bonus: it's up front about not using AI for writing and editing specifically

Sobering indeed!

Vancouver-based quantum computing startup Photonic raised CA$180M led by Planet First Partners, bringing its total funding to CA$375M (Madison McLauchlan/BetaKit) Main Link | Techmeme Permalink

Photonic says it's ready to commercialize #quantum tech with $180-million CAD fundraise. Investors include enterprise players RBC and Telus. betakit.com/photonic-say...

So many tech platforms have decayed beyond usability. Can we reverse the process? BetaKit is ending the year with a look back at the biggest #CDNtech stories of 2025. Here's @sarahcrgr.bsky.social on the year enshittification became undeniable: bit.ly/4pg0kJq

In 2025, Canada woke up to the possibility of buying and building #CDNtech. How did we get here? Sovereignty: the good, the bad, the performative... betakit.com/2025-was-the...

Eeeeeee