Over the past three years, the Canadian federal government has invested more than $800 million in artificial intelligence technology. This expenditure includes significant contracts, such as a $350 million agreement with Dayforce to overhaul the Phoenix pay system and a $240 million investment in the AI firm Cohere. Additionally, the spending covers various other contracts and subscriptions, ranging from small fees for services like ChatGPT to substantial agreements with multiple companies. Public Services and Procurement Canada and Innovation Canada emerged as the top spenders due to these major deals, with National Defence and the Canada Revenue Agency also contributing significant amounts. However, some government bodies, including the Communications Security Establishment and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, did not disclose their AI-related expenditures, and the RCMP noted a lack of centralized data on the matter.
Did the federal government spend over $800M on AI in three years?
