AI minister affirms Canada will have tech super-regulator “with teeth”

Canadian AI and digital innovation minister Evan Solomon said Wednesday at the ALL IN AI conference in Montréal that Canada's proposed digital technology super-regulator will have "teeth," including the power to levy fines of up to $10 million or three percent of global revenue against abusive big tech companies. Solomon said the regulator, the Canadian Digital Safety Commission, would be created as part of an update to Canada's privacy law and would oversee private-sector privacy issues and implementation of the new Safe Social Media Act. Solomon also said the federal government will reveal which organization will build Canada's public AI supercomputer "early this fall.

Amid global concerns over AI safety, Canada’s AI minister reaffirmed that the country’s proposed “super-regulator” for digital technology will have the power to hold companies accountable to the sum of billions. The news: AI and digital innovation minister Evan Solomon made the remarks on Wednesday morning at the ALL IN AI conference in Montréal. Alongside promises of a robust regulator, Solomon teased that the federal government will reveal which organization will build Canada’s public AI supercomputer https://betakit.com/canada-opens-applications-to-build-a-public-ai-supercomputer/ “early this fall.” From the source: “We are setting up to do all this—a regulator with teeth—for the first time in Canadian history,” Solomon said. “Not just a regulator that can name and shame, but that can hold these big tech companies to account if they are abusive, with billions of dollars in fines.” The context: As part of a long-awaited update to Canada’s privacy law https://betakit.com/with-update-to-canadas-privacy-laws-feds-are-building-a-super-regulator/ , Solomon proposed the creation of a regulator known as the Canadian Digital Safety Commission. It would have a broad mandate, including oversight of privacy issues in the private sector and the implementation of the new Safe Social Media Act https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/safe-social-media-act.html . If that bill becomes law, the new regulator would be able to issue binding orders and monetary penalties of up to $10 million, or three percent of global revenue, which is a departure from the powers of Canada’s existing https://betakit.com/elon-musks-x-violated-canadian-privacy-law-with-grok-deepfakes-watchdog-finds/ p https://betakit.com/elon-musks-x-violated-canadian-privacy-law-with-grok-deepfakes-watchdog-finds/ rivacy regulator https://betakit.com/elon-musks-x-violated-canadian-privacy-law-with-grok-deepfakes-watchdog-finds/ . Final thought: While this “super-regulator” could hold US AI developers accountable in the digital sphere, it’s less clear how Canada will deal with the associated AI buildout. Earlier this month, the Canadian government released a basic data centre framework https://betakit.com/openai-anthropic-sign-on-to-canadas-new-data-centre-framework-as-public-opinion-sours-on-buildout/ which asks, but doesn’t mandate, companies to follow responsible development guidelines. For data centres, he said that provincial regulators can create rules with “more legislative teeth.” Feature image courtesy Evan Solomon via X https://x.com/EvanLSolomon/status/2100275285404836253?s=20 .