ALL IN 2026 Spotlights Canada’s AI Ambitions with DeepMind, Mastercard, and Sovereign AI Debates
Event summary
- ALL IN 2026, Canada’s largest AI event, concludes September 17 in Montreal with 4 conference stages, 300+ exhibitors, and major announcements.
- Key speakers include Yoshua Bengio (Mila), Aidan Gomez (Cohere), and Tulsee Doshi (Google DeepMind).
- Sessions cover AI in healthcare, sustainability, enterprise R&D, and sovereign AI control.
- Government participation includes ministers from Alberta, British Columbia, and Canada.
- Event highlights include debates on Canada’s AI sovereignty and global competitiveness.
The big picture
ALL IN 2026 underscores Canada’s growing role in AI, with debates on sovereignty and commercialization reflecting broader tensions between national control and global collaboration. The event’s scale—400+ speakers and exhibitors—highlights Montreal’s emergence as a key AI hub, though execution risks remain in translating policy into tangible economic gains.
What we're watching
- Sovereign AI
- Whether Canada can balance AI sovereignty with global competitiveness, as debated by Cohere’s Aidan Gomez and government officials.
- AI Commercialization
- How enterprises like Mastercard and OpenText integrate AI into core operations, signaling broader industry adoption trends.
- Regulatory Dynamics
- The pace at which Canadian provinces and the federal government align on AI policy, given ministerial participation from Alberta, BC, and Canada.
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