This could be Canada’s biggest AI development tool for the near future.
Telus announced plans to open a ‘Sovereign AI Factory,’ as it calls it, in Rimouski (Quebec) using Nvidia hardware. The site will use 99 percent renewable energy to power it and help Canadians create AI tools.
The Telecom hopes to provide Canada the super-computing power and software needed to train AI, while keeping data within Canada’s borders. The Quebec data centre is going to be equipped with the latest generation Nvidia graphics cards, using Nvidia cloud centre reference designs. Telus claims that the data centre is naturally cooled, which will reduce water consumption by 75% compared to conventional data centres. The carrier even goes so far as to claim that the Quebec site is one of the world’s most sustainable data centers. The site was operating as a lower-class of Since 2012 the data centre has only required around 40 hours of mechanically assisted cooling per year.
The GPUs will mainly be Hopper and Blackwell supercomputers, which are at the forefront of AI development. Telus is investing in low-latency 100Gbps networking to connect to the internet. This should allow remote workers access to significant power from the GPU Cluster. Telus also highlights the security of its remote data centre, which is located over 250km away from major urban centres. It also stores all data it uses within Canada. It also uses two independent fibre routes in order to increase the network’s resilience.
Image Credit: Shutterstock.
MobileSyrup can earn a commission on purchases made through our links. This helps fund the journalism that we provide for free on our website. These links have no influence on our editorial content. Support us here
