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OTTAWA — Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon is visiting Saudi Arabia and India after a trip to Germany as part of an effort to drum up new investment in Canadian tech.
The stops are “about broadening our trade alliances and looking for investment … in great Canadian infrastructure, great Canadian technology,” Solomon said in an interview.
He was at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend, and will stop in Saudi Arabia before going to the AI Impact Summit in India.
The global conferences are happening as Prime Minister Mark Carney has drawn global attention for a speech in which he called for middle powers to work together against great-power economic coercion.
Solomon said the main reason he went to Munich was to sign the Sovereign Technology Alliance, which he called a “really important step” in deepening alliances with Europe, and particularly with Germany.
A government press release said through the alliance, Canada and Germany would “deepen co-ordination with trusted partners to strengthen sovereign AI capacity and reduce strategic technology dependencies.”
Canada also agreed to expand bilateral co-operation on AI with Germany. In December at a G7 ministers’ meeting in Montreal, Solomon signed an agreement with Germany, as well as new agreements with the European Union and the United Kingdom.
Solomon said he has been working on establishing relationships with Saudi Arabia and working toward a “framework to start increasing investment there.” He visited Qatar and the United Arab Emirates last year, signing a memorandum of understanding with the UAE and issuing a joint statement with Qatar.
“The world is changing quickly. And we need to engage,” he said, adding he plans to do so in both Saudi Arabia and India.
“We’ve got to open up new markets because some markets are getting harder to access because of tariffs. And our strategy is to build new trade alliances, drive new investment and show off Canadian talent.”
He cited the significant contributions Canadians have historically made toward the development of modern AI, as well as the Toronto-based company Cohere. Cohere develops large language models, a type of generative AI focused on language.
“We’re one of four countries in the world that have a functioning large language model,” Solomon noted.
Carney had initially been scheduled to attend the Munich conference, but cancelled the trip following a mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.
Solomon said he heard about Carney’s Davos speech in every meeting he had in Munich.
