Business Brief: A postcard from Canada’s largest AI and tech event

NEWSLETTER Business Brief: A postcard from Canada’s largest AI and tech event JOE CASTALDO PUBLISHED 1 HOUR AGO COMMENTS SHARE SAVE FOR LATER Listen to this article Learn more about audio Log in or create a free account to listen to this article. Good morning. We attended Canada’s largest artificial intelligence and technology event, which showcased the strength of the domestic AI ecosystem. One theme at the event was how our country is trying to chart its own path in AI development as the U.S. and China vie for supremacy. Will it work? UP FIRST In the news Oversight: Health Canada suspended the licence of the Grifols plasma collection site in Winnipeg where a young donor experienced heart problems that led to her death last year. Oil: South Bow’s CEO projected optimism about building the Prairie Connector pipeline after the federal government highlighted the project to attendees of the Canada Investment Summit. On defence: Bell Canada partnered with Cohere to develop an AI model that can provide the context organizations need to conduct cybersecurity investigations. Open this photo in gallery: The All In 2026 AI conference in Montreal was held on Sept. 16 and 17. CHRISTINNE MUSCHI/THE CANADIAN PRESS IN FOCUS What I learned at All In AI is a bubble. I don’t mean in the financial sense (okay, maybe) but in the ideological sense. Last week, I went to Montreal for All In, a two-day AI industry extravaganza with thousands of lanyard-wearing evangelists ready to promote their companies’ latest AI-powered workflow solutions. Federal AI Minister Evan Solomon was there, along with executives from Cohere, Nvidia and OpenAI. There was some caution in the air – especially in light of calls from Anthropic and other AI labs to pace development – but overall, the mood was optimistic. That was not the case outside the downtown convention centre, where protesters clogged the streets early Wednesday evening as police officers in riot gear stood watch. The protesters carried signs decrying AI as “fascist” and unfurled a banner reading “All Out.” Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez eyed the protests warily as he walked past, headed to a private event featuring chess superstar Magnus Carlsen. Overnight, vandals had smashed windows at the building housing Mila, Quebec’s non-profit AI research hub, and spray-painted messages such as “burn the data centres” on its walls. When I casually asked people at All In about the protests, I received a mix of genuine befuddlement,…