Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney warns foreign AI platforms can be used against Canadians

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TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney warned Thursday that foreign artificial intelligence platforms could be used against Canadians.

Carney said the defining technology of our era is here and said Canada is too dependent on foreign suppliers. He made the remarks while unveiling his government’s strategy on AI.

Carney warned at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier his year that global hegemons like the United States have used economic integration to bully smaller countries. He noted Thursday that most of the data used in AI goes across the border.

As with other forms of economic integration like supply chains, Carney said AI could be weaponized against Canadians.

“That creates real risks that foreign entities could access Canadian data, deploy AI products that shape Canadian lives without reflecting our values,” Carney said. “And tilt the playing field against Canadian firms — while Canada lacks the leverage to push back or the ability to control.”

The government’s strategy notes “AI is a game of scale that is dominated by hegemons and hyperscalers” and said this “poses a significant security and economic challenge as countries around the globe risk becoming subordinate or reliant on them.”

The strategy talks about Canada helping lead other middle powers or like-minded countries in navigating the new era.

“A coalition of aligned democracies, who pool research, talent, compute and procurement power, would offer a credible alternative to the dominant market actors that increasingly define the global AI landscape,” the document says.

Carney said his government will introduce legislation to better protect data and privacy. He also said Canada will build a world-leading public AI supercomputer.

“Canadian researchers train models on foreign cloud platforms. Canadian companies store sensitive data in foreign jurisdictions. Government operations rely on infrastructure Canada does not own," the strategy says.

It says the federal government will address these risks by “building its key sovereign capabilities domestically whenever possible, while partnering with trusted allies or buying existing market solutions when appropriate.”

The strategy said Canada has “a major adoption gap.” The prime minister said his government will offer artificial intelligence training to Canadians in schools and community centers through a literacy initiative. He said free AI learning kits, including courses, “will help Canadians to identify bias and misinformation — and give them the AI tools to learn and help with their careers.”

Carney said globally, his country ranks near the bottom of countries in AI training, literacy and trust. He said only 12% of Canadian businesses are using AI and adoption is even lower among small and medium-sized businesses.