The Alberta government wants to make the province a destination for Artificial Intelligence data centre investment.
Nate Glubish, the Minister of Technology and Innovation, says there’s some factors that make Alberta highly attractive to AI data centre projects.
“One of the things that these folks need is access to an enormous amount of electricity. One of the things that we’re putting out there is that you can get some of the cheapest and most reliable natural gas powered electricity for your data centres. We can build them together fast. We can work with you to streamline approvals and help get you up and running faster than almost anywhere else.”
Glubish says this could bring in some economic benefits.
“Most Albertans are proud of our oil and gas industry. Most Albertans have heard the Premier say that we aim to double our oil and gas production in the coming years. If we can convert gas to electricity and convert that electricity to 1’s and 0’s through these AI data centres, this is a way for us to export our natural gas to global markets at scale and that will generate a ton of economic activity in rural Alberta.”
Glubish says Alberta’s climate also offers significant advantages for AI data centres because of the province’s cold winters, which would reduce the need for artificial cooling systems.
Such centres are filled with computer servers which companies use to develop and train large-scale artificial intelligence models.
You can listen to the full interview below.
– Kyle Moore, Trending 55 Newsroom
