Ottawa plans to invest up to $1.6 billion in Canadian AI “champion” Cohere, and AI Minister Evan Solomon has a podcast to sell the story. Douglas joins Noor Azrieh to unpack the national pride, the hype, and the questions missing from the coverage.

Plus, whether Canada should send experimental math rock aliens, Angine de Poitrine, to Eurovision. And whether This Hour Has 22 Minutes possibly predicted the new US press secretary (the one and only) Nicki Minaj.

Host: Noor Azrieh

Credits: James Nicholson (Senior Producer), Julian Abraham (Producer), Noor Azrieh (Host/Producer), Caleb Thompson (Mixing & Mastering), Harrison Lowman (Managing Editor), Jesse Brown (Editor & Publisher)

Guest: Douglas Soltys

Additional music by Audio Network

Further reading:

• Why Canada’s Cohere stake has struck a nerve – BetaKit
• Finance Minister calls Cohere the “poster child” for government investment – BetaKit 
• Canada to invest up to $1.6B in Toronto-based AI company Cohere – CBC News
• Canada to Take Equity Stake in AI Firm Cohere – The Wall Street Journal
• Ottawa to invest up to $1.6-billion in Cohere as AI firm’s valuation soars to $35.7-billion – The Globe and Mail
• Building Secure AI in Canada | Aidan Gomez and Joëlle Pineau – AI Minister Evan Solomon
• Angine de Poitrine review – mind-boggling math rock mastery from freaky Québécois duo – The Guardian
• ‘This Hour Has 22 Minutes,’ a Canadian Sketch Show, Beats American Late Night to the Punchline – The New York Times

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