As part of Budget 2024, the Government of Canada announced a $2 billion investment in a new Canadian AI Sovereign Compute Strategy and AI Compute Access Fund that aims to provide Canadian researchers and AI companies with the tools needed to be competitive in a rapidly advancing global AI landscape. A public consultation on how these monies should be spent concluded late last week. 

This investment is timely as Canada – a global leader in AI – is currently the only G7 country that does not have a supercomputer ranked in the Top 50. What is considered the “AI factory” to support AI innovation and research, new and sovereign supercomputing infrastructure would allow Canada to secure a globally competitive position by ensuring that both industry and researchers have access to advanced and affordable infrastructure at home. Queen’s researcher and expert in Secure Supercomputing and AI Exascale Infrastructure, Ryan Grant believes part of the government’s investment should be used to build a new innovation supercomputer in Canada to supercharge productivity.

Grant is available to speak to the media about why a new supercomputer is needed, and how Canada could use supercomputing to position itself as a global leader in supporting both research and industry to advance work at the forefront of medicine, AI, and climate science.  

To learn more about Ryan Grant and supercomputing, visit the Queen’s Gazette

To set up an interview with Ryan Grant, please email mediarelations@queensu.ca