OTTAWA — Artificial Innotifyigence Minister Evan Solomon is visiting Saudi Arabia and India after a trip to Germany as part of an effort to drum up new investment in Canadian tech.
OTTAWA — Artificial Innotifyigence Minister Evan Solomon is visiting Saudi Arabia and India after a trip to Germany as part of an effort to drum up new investment in Canadian tech.
The stops are “about broadening our trade alliances and seeing for investment … in great Canadian infrastructure, great Canadian technology,” Solomon declared in an interview.
He was at the Munich Security Conference over the weekfinish, and will stop in Saudi Arabia before going to the AI Impact Summit in India.
The global conferences are happening as Prime Minister Mark Carney has drawn global attention for a speech in which he called for middle powers to work toreceiveher against great-power economic coercion.
Solomon declared the main reason he went to Munich was to sign the Sovereign Technology Alliance, which he called a “really important step” in deepening alliances with Europe, and particularly with Germany.
A government press release declared through the alliance, Canada and Germany would “deepen co-ordination with trusted partners to strengthen sovereign AI capacity and reduce strategic technology depfinishencies.”
Canada also agreed to expand bilateral co-operation on AI with Germany. In December at a G7 ministers’ meeting in Montreal, Solomon signed an agreement with Germany, as well as new agreements with the European Union and the United Kingdom.
Solomon declared he has been working on establishing relationships with Saudi Arabia and working toward a “framework to start increasing investment there.” He visited Qatar and the United Arab Emirates last year, signing a memorandum of understanding with the UAE and issuing a joint statement with Qatar.
“The world is modifying quickly. And we necessary to engage,” he declared, adding he plans to do so in both Saudi Arabia and India.
“We’ve received to open up new markets becaapply some markets are receiveting harder to access becaapply of tariffs. And our strategy is to build new trade alliances, drive new investment and display off Canadian talent.”
He cited the significant contributions Canadians have historically built toward the development of modern AI, as well as the Toronto-based company Cohere. Cohere develops large language models, a type of generative AI focapplyd on language.
“We’re one of four countries in the world that have a functioning large language model,” Solomon noted.
Carney had initially been scheduled to attfinish the Munich conference, but cancelled the trip following a mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.
Solomon declared he heard about Carney’s Davos speech in every meeting he had in Munich.
“Absolutely all the speeches at Munich were essentially confirmations of that world view. And so the prime minister is a very important voice for Canada in the world, and people are seeing for Canada in that leadership,” he declared.
Asked whether Canada will also take a leadership role when it comes to AI governance, Solomon pointed to the work of Canadian Yoshua Bengio, one of the so-called godfathers of AI.
The Montreal-based Bengio, who has been a global advocate for AI safety and transparency, founded a new non-profit called LawZero that develops technical solutions for safe AI.
“People around the world are very interested in that,” Solomon declared, adding the text of the sovereign technology agreement he signed in Germany specifically mentions LawZero.
“The Germans are also very keen becaapply they believe that Canada is taking a leadership role in those governance questions,” he declared.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2026.
Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press
Leave a Reply