The challenge is turning smart policy ideas into action at the pace required.
The United States Government has restricted access to Anthropic’s powerful Fable 5 and Mythos 5 artificial intelligence models. In response, Anthropic has halted access to the models for all users. Here’s part of what Anthropic said in a statement following the move:
“The US government, citing national security authorities, has issued an export control directive to suspend all access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 by any foreign national, whether inside or outside the United States, including foreign national Anthropic employees. The net effect of this order is that we must abruptly disable Fable 5 and Mythos 5 for all our customers to ensure compliance. Access to all other Anthropic models will not be affected.”
As a consequence of this decision, individuals and businesses around the world have been reminded that their ability to access top-tier AI models can be restricted at any time, highlighting the importance of both open-source and sovereign AI. In turn, this vindicates key pillars of Canada’s recently released AI strategy.
Sovereign AI & national champions
Canada’s AI strategy has six pillars: Protecting Canadians and safeguarding democracy, empowering Canadians, powering shared prosperity, building the Canadian sovereign AI foundation, scaling Canadian champions, and building trusted partnerships and global alliances.
Building the Canadian sovereign AI foundation and scaling Canadian champions are of particular relevance at this moment. The national strategy made the following point about the foundation of the AI sector, which now seems almost prescient:
“Today, much of that foundation sits beyond our borders. Canadian researchers train models on foreign cloud platforms. Canadian companies store sensitive data in foreign jurisdictions. Government operations rely on infrastructure Canada does not own. And the country’s best AI talent faces constant recruitment pressure from abroad. The risks are not abstract. Sensitive Canadian data can be subject to decisions, rules, and legal regimes beyond Canada’s direct control.”
To address this, the government has pledged to build a “world-leading public supercomputer,” support the construction of large data centres, “expand high-capacity fibre lines and satellite connectivity,” enhance chip design and fabrication capabilities, and invest in “sovereign cloud, AI, and quantum capabilities.” The government is also expanding the Canada CIFAR AI Chairs program from 130 to 200 researchers, and expanding the Global Talent immigration program to attract more top talent in the AI space.
The national AI strategy also noted that “many promising Canadian companies grow elsewhere.” To address this challenge, the government plans to establish a $500 million “Canadian Tech Growth Fund” to provide capital to “Canada’s most promising AI companies,” leverage the new ‘Sovereign Wealth Fund’ to support those companies, look at ways to incentivize gains from successful tech companies into “new Canadian AI startups,” and use the Buy Canadian policy as part of setting the government up as a “strategic anchor customer” for domestic startups. The government is also expanding the compute access fund for small and medium enterprises, investing in commercialization across National AI Institutes, and expanding the protection of Canadian intellectual property.
Canada must think big
When it was released, some criticized the Canadian government for focusing on sovereign AI and ‘national champions,’ arguing that Canada should instead seek to make itself useful to the United States rather than seek to develop more domestic capability. Now, in the context of the US export control directive on Anthropic’s latest models, the focus on sovereignty and national champions looks wise. Rather than simply being part of another country’s AI build-out, Canada needs to think big and align energy, tax, and immigration policies with targeted government support to build on our existing strengths in AI and ensure we have the sovereign capabilities to prosper on our terms.
Spencer Fernando
If this piece left you clearer than it found you, that's the point. I write for readers who want to think past the week, to see the longer pattern beneath the daily story, and to come away steadier rather than more agitated.
That longer view gets built somewhere. On Patreon, essay by essay, I'm constructing The Long Work, a body of analysis meant to outlast the news cycle that prompted it. The readers there make it possible. No subsidies, no strings. The work answers to them.
$8/month to read it as it's built, and to have a hand in building it.