Radical Ventures leads US$130M financing for AI model maker Prime Intellect
Other investors in the San Francisco-based startup’s Series A round include the venture arms of Nvidia, Intel and Dell Technologies. (The Logic)
Other investors in the San Francisco-based startup’s Series A round include the venture arms of Nvidia, Intel and Dell Technologies. (The Logic)
The Toronto-based company said combined second-quarter losses were $247 million above expectations in two categories: catastrophe and large-loss insurance. Extreme weather in Canada, including torrential storms that caused water and wind damage, pushed up losses, as did commercial fires in the U.K. and Ireland. The insurer has seen a broad-based increase in fire claims. (The Logic)
The Aishkat Agreement with the Innu First Nation of Pessamit would see the province and Hydro-Québec compensate the community of about 4,000 for existing and past damages, and guarantee its participation in hydroelectric projects on its lands. (La Presse, Canadian Press)
The Riyadh-based arm of the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is committing at least 50 megawatts of processing power to host and run the Toronto-headquartered company’s AI models and tools. Cohere and Humain will also work together on new Arabic-language systems and industry-specific products. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. (The Logic)
The deal would give MDA roughly 70 per cent ownership of Collecte Localisation Satellites, which uses satellite imaging and data from thousands of terrestrial sensors to monitor land and air. The company is currently owned by the Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES, France’s national space agency) and Belgian investment firm CNP. CNES would keep ownership of roughly 30 per cent of Collecte Localisation. MDA plans to sell US$819 million in new shares (an amount it boosted from an initial amount of US$712 million) to cover the purchase. (The Logic)
The massive one-gigawatt facility will be powered by Pembina Pipeline’s Greenlight Electricity Centre—a major natural-gas power plant in Sturgeon County, northeast of Edmonton, that received a positive final investment decision last week. It is Meta’s first Canadian data centre. (The Logic)
Toronto-based Genesys Capital will manage the VC fund, with the University of Toronto and McMaster University contributing up to $8 million and $5 million, respectively. The Ontario government will invest $10 million through Venture Ontario. RBC and the Temerty family, a major U of T donor, are also participating. (The Globe and Mail)
The Dubai-based physical AI startup will also establish a lab in the city and deepen an existing partnership with Montreal AI institute Mila. The move will result in an additional 300 jobs in the Quebec ecosystem through partnerships. (The Logic)
The Liberal government is open to exploring a free trade deal with Saudi Arabia after concluding talks for an investment promotion and protection agreement, International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu said ahead of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s trip to the Gulf country. (Bloomberg)
Anko van der Werff, who was an executive at Aeroméxico and Qatar Airways, among others, will begin his term at the Montreal-based airline by January 2027. Van der Werff will succeed Michael Rousseau, who announced his retirement in March. (The Logic)