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AI Minister Backs Anthropic’s ‘Responsible’ Mythos Rollout as Regulation Tightens

  Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon will meet with Anthropic leaders in response to concerns about the company’s new AI model. Canada’s Artificial Intelligence Minister says Anthropic is taking a “responsible and safety‑first approach” with its newly announced Mythos model family — a comment that comes as governments worldwide race to regulate rapidly advancing AI systems. According to public statements, the minister highlighted Anthropic’s emphasis on model transparency, safety evaluations, and controlled deployment , noting that these practices align with Canada’s push for clearer AI accountability standards. While the remarks were not tied to any specific policy change, they signal growing government interest in how frontier AI models could affect everything from cybersecurity to labour markets. For markets, the reaction has been modest but notable. AI‑linked equities — particularly cloud providers and chipmakers — saw small early‑morning gains , reflecting inves...

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Small Businesses in Canada Face Bankruptcy Risk Amidst Pandemic-Era Support Withdrawal

 


According to a recent report, thousands of small businesses in Canada are at risk of bankruptcy after the government ended pandemic-era support last month with the economy slowing at a time of high interest rates. 

Small firms that employ fewer than 100 people are critical to the Canadian economy as they give jobs to almost two-thirds of the country’s 12 million private workers. A spike in bankruptcies, which jumped 38% in the first 11 months of 2023, would weigh on economic growth, lobby groups and economists warn. 

Last month, small businesses faced a deadline to repay interest-free loans of C$60,000 ($44,676) made available to each of them during the pandemic. Of the 900,000 who had taken the government support, a fifth have not yet repaid their loans, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Monday. Katherine Cuplinskas, a spokesperson for the Finance Minister said in an emailed response that the Department of Finance did not expect there will be a negative impact on the economy on account of repayment of the loans given as support during the pandemic. She said loan recipients have long had full information on timelines and have been able to plan accordingly.


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