Build data centres here or ‘rent’ from neighbours, AI minister says - BNN Bloomberg

Digital sovereignty took centre stage at a major artificial intelligence conference Wednesday, with AI leaders saying homegrown build-outs and collaboration among trusted allies are the key to avoiding dependence on less reliable states. A failure to construct data centres and forge ahead on AI development at home would leave Canada beholden to its neighbours, said Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon. “If we don’t build it here, we’ve got to buy it from someone else. And if we don’t innovate here, we’ve got to rent it from someone else. And if we don’t make the rules here, we’ve got to follow someone else’s,” he told attendees at the All In conference in Montreal. But no nation is an island, he noted. “Sovereignty’s not isolation; it means partnership with shared values.” Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation Evan Solomon, centre, tours All-In 2026, an artificial Intelligence (AI) conference, with his German counterpart Karsten Wildberger, right, and Isabelle Turcotte, co-founder and CEO of All-In, in Montreal on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi Karsten Wildberger, Germany’s digital minister, told the audience that shared standards and oversight are essential to ensuring both safe AI development and cutting-edge technology. “Nowhere does sovereignty matter more than AI. Few technologies have had such power to change our lives so quickly,” he said. The remarks came amid renewed fears over the existential threat potentially posed by AI systems after an employee at AI giant Anthropic quit earlier this month, warning that those systems could spiral out of control and destroy humanity. The comments also landed as concerns flare up around digital sovereignty after U.S. President Donald last month dubbed Lake Ontario instead Lake America — a change that popped up on some online maps in Canada. Latest updates on artificial intelligence news here Wildberger said middle powers such as Canada and Germany should channel that angst into action on AI production, since protests from the sidelines would be drowned out. “We will sit at the table when we have technology to offer that is safe, capable and competitive. My worry is if our contribution is mainly philosophical; it is important, but that’s not enough,” the minister said. Valerie Pisano, president and CEO of Mila - Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute speaks during All-In 2026, an artificial intelligence (AI) conference in Montreal on…