Lynn Johannson, Advisor, Sustainability and ESG
January 4th, 2024
Lynn Johannson, President of E2 Management Corporation and Catalyst for THE Collaboration
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Canada Invests $240M in Cohere for AI Data Centre
AI Investment | March 21, 2025
Image: Freepik/rorozoa
Cohere Secures $240M from Ottawa to Build Canadian AI infrastructure and Address Data Sovereignty
On March 202025, Anita Anand, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced that the Government of Canada is investing up to $240 million in Cohere Inc. to build advanced AI infrastructure and help the country compete globally in artificial intelligence. This funding is part of a $725 million project that Cohere is leading to create a state-of-the-art AI data centre in Canada, so Canadian firms don't have to rely on foreign tech giants. Canada has world class researchers but currently lacks the computing power and infrastructure needed to keep top AI talent and their companies at home.
Key Insights
- The $240 million from Ottawa is part of a broader $725 million project to boost Canadian AI infrastructure and protect data and intellectual property. The project is critical for protecting Canadian data and IP in sectors like health, finance, and government where data residency and compliance are essential.
- Cohere is the first recipient of funding under the AI Compute Challenge. The funding is part of the government’s $2 billion Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy, which includes funding for infrastructure, supercomputing, and small to midsized enterprises (SME) support.
See: Brookfield Invests €20 billion in France’s AI Infrastructure
- This investment provides support for Canada's entire AI ecosystem, and will help attract large scale private and commercial investment to the sector, and help retain top AI talent. Canada is home to some of the world's top AI researchers like Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio but many AI startups have been acquired or relocated due to lack of infrastructure.
- The AI data centre will be built by Cohere and it will power not only it's own large language models but will also be accessible to other domestic AI firms and researchers, so the benefits can be shared across the tech and academic communities.
Closing Thought
This investment is more than a cheque to a single company. The goal is to ensure Canadian AI firms and researchers can develop domestically, long term, without relying on foreign infrastructure. It'll be a key part of Canada's AI ecosystem that will also serve the public's interest and support economic growth and resilience.
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