- The Canadian government's 'AI for All' strategy aims to become a strategic anchor customer for domestic AI to boost adoption, targeting 60% of businesses using AI by 2034.
- Despite the strategy, the government currently buys AI secretly from foreign vendors like Palantir, with undisclosed contracts worth millions in defense and policing.
- The strategy focuses on equity investments, compute funding, certification, and health missions, but lacks clear procurement orders to buy openly from Canadian firms.
- Equity stakes in companies may deter private investment and create state-dependent firms, rather than fostering competitive market players.
- Starting the missions program in health, a slow and risk-averse sector, may lead to delays rather than proving effective public AI procurement.
- A true anchor customer should buy openly from Canadian firms, set quotas for domestic spending, ensure auditability, and publish receipts quarterly.
- The author, founder of a Canadian AI company, urges the government to transparently buy domestic AI, as it does for foreign products, to support sovereignty.