Tag Archives: AI Data Centres

Communications

What Will Canada’s AI Strategy Mean for Jobs and Safety?

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By Isaac Phan Nay, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Canada’s long-awaited and much-delayed artificial intelligence strategy on Thursday, outlining how his government plans to adopt and control the powerful technology.

The strategy signals the government’s support for large-scale AI adoption. The plan includes a $500-million fund to invest in Canadian AI companies and a commitment to support construction of data centres that will bring at least a combined 850 megawatts of compute capacity by 2030.

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Communications

BC’s new data centre cluster sparks new discussion of ‘sovereign’ AI push

By Sonal Gupta, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

TELUS is pushing ahead with plans for a major AI data-centre cluster in British Columbia after being selected under Ottawa’s large-scale AI data-centre initiative. But the project is raising questions about who will ultimately control that infrastructure and whether BC’s clean power grid can absorb the electricity demand.

The project announced Monday with federal backing, would start with 85 megawatts of power from BC Hydro and scale to 150 megawatts, and over 60,000 NVIDIA GPUs, by 2032.

It includes three sites: an AI facility in Kamloops launching later this year, a Mount Pleasant location opening in 2026 and expanding through 2028 and a 10-storey data centre near BC Place set for 2029.

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Communications, Education

Large Language Model AI Programs: Hallucinations, Other Challenges and an Incredible Potential 

We’ve probably all encountered AI by now. Some large language model (LLM) AI programs are among the fastest and most comprehensive information tools on the Internet, and arguably, the most “stupid.” Have you ever been harassed by an AI-powered telephone service whose programmer neglected to include the concept of wrong numbers? Or been fed incorrect political information by an AI program that did not know which party or Prime Minister was in power? However if you want to check something like medieval canon law, to ensure the attitude of a character in the novel you’re writing accurately portrays the times:  it can take seconds with ChatGPT. Everything has to be fact-checked and sources verified, but tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude remain remarkable and they’ll improve as the glitches are addressed. 

My guest this morning is Dr Vered Shwartz, an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of British Columbia, a CIFAR AI Chair at the Vector Institute, and the author of the book “Lost in Automatic Translation.”

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Energy

Will nuclear power plants help meet a potential explosion in Alberta’s electrical demand?

Editor’s note: The two questions that come to mind reading this are (1) is nuclear power safe, especially when the infrastructure starts to age? And (2) will most of the subsequent inspections and reporting be left to what industry chooses to disclose?

By George Lee, The Macleod Gazette, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Nuclear reactors in your backyard — or down the road beside a humming new AI data centre — hold promise for rural Alberta, the legislature heard in advance of a Wednesday webinar on the subject.

The long-proven but advancing technology of unlocking the energy within atoms offers a safe and reliable option for Alberta’s power needs, a UCP member said last week.

“This is about building energy security, advancing innovation and life-saving treatments, and bolstering the industrial development that has made Alberta tick for the last seven decades,” said Chantelle de Jonge, MLA for Chestermere-Strathmore. “If we want to keep Alberta strong, growing and competitive, we must seriously consider the opportunity that nuclear energy presents to us today.”

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