TORONTO — Bell CEO Mirko Bibic says businesses and governments must build and use sovereign AI infrastructure to “ensure that no one can turn Canada off.”

Bibic argued the country needs domestically owned and run data centres, fibre networks, models and software to ensure it’s less economically dependent on others.

Bell wants to be seen as a major player in so-called AI sovereignty as it tries to double the revenue it generates from the technology to $1.5 billion by 2028. In May, the telecom giant announced plans for six data centres in British Columbia that will use 500 megawatts of power. Bell has also partnered with Cohere to run the AI firm’s models and North agent-builder system on its infrastructure, and jointly sell them to Canadian businesses and governments.

That technology stack lets clients keep and process their information in Canada, rather than in places subject to foreign laws, Bibic said in a speech at the Canadian Club Toronto on Wednesday. He claimed the country’s private and public sectors are ready to adopt AI at scale, but want to buy Canadian. Some 88 per cent of large firms in a small-sample survey commissioned by Bell said data sovereignty was very important to them, with 63 per cent saying their information must remain in Canada.

Bell is positioning itself as an alternative to the cloud service arms of U.S. tech giants. “Unlike digital ecosystems dominated only by global tech giants, AI is still in its formative stage,” he said, so Canada wasn’t yet “locked into platforms and systems that cannot be unwound.”

By using homegrown technology, Canadian firms can make practical and industrial use of the country’s technical and research capabilities, and help prepare domestic AI developers for export, according to Bibic.

Ottawa has made AI sovereignty a priority and has allocated $2 billion to build out Canadian compute capacity, and tasked the Major Projects Office with helping to develop a homegrown cloud. AI Minister Evan Solomon has said the Liberal government is still working on how to define “sovereignty” in its policies and programs. Bibic on Wednesday defined sovereignty as “authority over compute, over data movement and storage, and over governance.” 

Bibic has previously said Bell is keen to work with governments on its infrastructure build out. Company spokesperson Katherine Cuplinskas said the firm is not actively seeking public funding and will proceed with its infrastructure plans regardless of whether it receives federal money or not.

Bibic called for more tie-ups between Canadian organizations, touting his firm’s ties with AI search company Coveo, cloud provider ThinkOn, and the research hubs Vector Institute and Mila. He also cited RBC’s work with Cohere; the bank was the flagship customer for the North agent-builder platform. Canada needs “an integrated technology supply chain,” he said.

Bell is simultaneously expanding in the U.S. In August, it acquired Ziply Fiber, which builds and runs networks in the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

Update: This story has been updated to clarify Bell’s position on public funding for its data centre plans.