Montreal is at the centre of Canada’s artificial intelligence conversation Wednesday as thousands gathered for ALL IN 2026, where discussions about the technology’s potential were matched by questions about safety, privacy and public trust.
The two-day conference at the Palais des congrès brings together companies developing AI, organizations adopting it and researchers working to shape its future.
The event features four stages, hundreds of exhibitors, hands-on workshops, industry roundtables, real-world AI demonstrations, startup competitions and major announcements.
Canada and Germany announce up to $300 million for AI safety
One of the day’s biggest announcements came from Canada and Germany, which committed up to $300 million in joint funding to LawZero, the Montreal-based non-profit founded by AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio.
Canada is investing $150 million, while Germany is planning to provide 100 million euros. The funding will support LawZero’s work on Scientist AI, an approach designed to make advanced AI more transparent, trustworthy and safe by design. It will also support research, engineering talent and computing capacity, including a new German office and dedicated sovereign computing infrastructure in Canada.
Canadian AI and Digital Innovation Minister Evan Solomon said the investment is part of a broader effort to develop increasingly capable AI while keeping safety and human oversight at the centre.
He said the goal is not to stop AI development, but to make sure it is done responsibly.
“It is not to not build or to build, it is to build right or to build wrong,” Solomon said. “Today is about building right.”
LawZero’s Scientist AI approach is intended to reason transparently and provide reliable, evidence-based outputs without pursuing goals of its own.
Canada and Germany deepen AI partnership
The funding announcement was also part of a broader push to deepen co-operation between Canada and Germany.
Germany is the country of honour at this year’s conference, with Solomon and German Federal Minister for Digital Transformation and Government Modernisation Karsten Wildberger taking part in the opening session.
The two ministers were also joined by Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez and Aleph Alpha’s Samuel Weinbach for a discussion on the countries’ approaches to AI.
Solomon said Canada and Germany are working together to strengthen their technological sovereignty and build AI capacity.
“Germany and Canada are allies, Germany is the country of honour at all in. We are partners in building, and we are friends,” Solomon said.
The partnership also includes collaboration between Canadian and German research institutions, with LawZero planning to expand its operations into Europe. Germany’s funding is subject to notification by the European Commission.
Safety concerns loom over conference
Questions about the risks of AI have been difficult to separate from the conference itself.
Isabelle Turcotte, founder and CEO of ALL IN, said she remains optimistic about the technology’s potential in areas including health care, agriculture, education and manufacturing.
“My thoughts is that I’m pretty optimistic in all the things that AI can do to help our society,” she said.
But Turcotte said that potential needs to be matched by responsible development.
“There’s a lot of ways where AI can help improve human capabilities, but it’s important that we do it responsibly in the right way,” she said.
That balance was reflected throughout Wednesday’s programming, with sessions examining public trust, the environmental impact of AI, autonomous systems and the infrastructure needed to support increasingly powerful models.
Safety concerns follow vandalism at Mila
The conference also comes a day after vandalism was reported at the Mila AI research institute in Montreal.
Several windows were smashed and graffiti criticizing AI was left on the building. Police said about 10 people may have been involved and one woman was arrested.
Solomon condemned the incident, saying researchers and students have the right to work safely.
“We will never condone any acts of violence or vandalism,” Solomon said. “This is unacceptable in our democracy.”
He said people have the right to question AI and protest peacefully, but that researchers, educators, workers and communities must be protected.
Attendees see opportunity — and uncertainty
The debate over AI was also playing out among people attending the conference.
Jayesh Patel, from Burlington, Ont., said his company is increasingly incorporating AI into its workflow, bringing him to ALL IN to see what technology is available.
He has also started using AI in his personal and professional life.
“It’s certainly useful,” Patel said. “It’s certainly a powerful tool. I think as long as we maintain it as a useful tool, that’ll be a good thing.”
Shelbi Sias, an attendee from Alaska, said she came to Montreal to learn more about AI and bring what she learns back to her organization and communities.
She said concerns about AI are understandable, but people also need to educate themselves about the technology.
“I think everybody should, but also they should be willing to learn and come to things like this to just build their knowledge on it and see perspectives and learn from leaders,” Sias said.
Marie-Josée Gaudreault, from Sherbrooke, said AI has already become an important part of her professional and personal life.
“For my job it’s an accelerator, it’s an assistant,” she said. “It gives me some advice, it helps me very, very much.”
But Gaudreault said privacy and the future of AI need to be taken seriously.
“I know there is some risk. We have to be aware of that and use it. We have to care of what is the way that we use it.”
Outside the conference, mixed views on AI
Outside the conference, people on the streets of Montreal also shared mixed views about the technology and where it could lead.
One man from New Zealand, who works as an engineer, said AI should be treated like any other tool, with clear boundaries around how it is used.
“AI is like any other tool. With any other tool you just need to be able to use it, when to use it and have to be boundaries for its use and abuse,” he said.
Another man, who is pursuing a master’s degree in AI, said he sees both significant potential and serious risks.
He said AI could increase productivity and advance research, including potentially contributing to longer life expectancy, but said he is also concerned about its impact on jobs.
“It’s very scary because we might lose our jobs in the future,” he said. “We are going through education for decades and it could go to nothing.”
Keeping the conversation going
For Turcotte, bringing those different perspectives together is part of the purpose of ALL IN.
“ALL IN is the largest tech and AI event in Canada and the goal of what we wanted to build is a meeting point where those that are creating the AI solutions are meeting with the companies that are going to be adopting it,” she said.
She said the conference is also meant to encourage dialogue about the technology’s social impact and how it can be developed responsibly.
“What’s important is that we talk to each other,” Turcotte said.
She said delegations from more than 50 countries are at the conference and are looking to collaborate on AI.
“All these delegations, they all want to work together to collaborate and build a safer AI,” she said.
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