1996 was a big year for tech: Dolly the Sheep, Internet Explorer 3.0, and the launch of the app currently at the heart of Canada’s digital sovereignty battle.
The news: Following US President Donald Trump’s trade tirade, Google Maps and Apple Maps have renamed Lake Ontario to Lake America for US users, prompting an exodus from the popular navigation apps. The backlash prompted many, including this reporter, to transition to an old staple, MapQuest, helping it become the most-downloaded app in the Apple App Store in Canada, and the number two navigation app in the US.
MapQuest, which predates today’s popular mapping apps, holds up pretty well in 2026. Gone are the days of paper print-outs, but MapQuest delivers on Web 2.0 charm, replacing stuffy blue navigation icons with pixelated sprites (I chose the wizard).
From the source: “Google’s decision is more consequential than the theatre of the name change. It’s deliberate epistemic collapse,” wrote Canadian Shield Institute managing director Vass Bednar in a Globe and Mail op-ed.
The context: The backlash might mark a turning point in the desire for alternatives to US big tech hegemony. Lists like the Canadian Shield’s or Paris Marx’s guide to decoupling from US tech have seen a spike in traffic. However, as those guides outline, not all decouplings are as easy as switching mapping apps. Is this finally Canada’s “elbows up” moment? Only time (or more name changes) will tell.
Canada’s largest fintech gathering returns September 14-15, 2026.
The Canada Fintech Forum brings together the industry’s leading voices for two days of collaboration, learning, and networking. Connect with decision-makers, uncover emerging opportunities, and take part in the conversations influencing the next chapter of financial innovation in Canada and beyond.
The United States is asking G20 members to take a hands-off approach to AI regulation, according to Reuters, as part of a two-day meeting on tech in North Carolina that continued today. Countries that sign on agree to avoid AI regulation and focus only on rules for “novel” situations involving the technology.
The data center boom is reshaping where private equity dollars are flowing, according to PitchBook, which found that data center construction spending jumped 46 percent in Q2 2026, up from the same time last year.
In an interview with the Toronto Star, Salesforce’s Canadian chief Dave Borrelli said Canada’s traditionally conservative business culture could have consequences in the AI era, and warned that the country’s AI adoption gap has the “potential to leave us too far behind.”
An excerpt from Cecilia Rikap’s new book, The Rulers: Corporate Power in the Age of AI and the Cloud, featured in Rest of World, shows how other countries have not-so-successfully approached ditching big tech. While China builds its own tech ecosystem off the back of US work, India and Brazil are leaning further into public-private partnerships that still rely on US infrastructure. As Canada tries to cultivate its own digital sovereignty, perhaps it should take notes.
Thirty new lawsuits are set to be filed against OpenAI in the wake of the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting, according to CBC News. The suits allege that the AI giant’s leadership “ignored its own safety staff and refused to alert police” after it banned the perpetrator for using ChatGPT “in furtherance of violent activities.”
One of the goals of the lawsuits, according to the firm representing the plaintiffs, is to have the perpetrator’s chat logs released. OpenAI chief strategy officer Jason Kwon has publicly denied the allegations, which are yet to be tested in court.
Shortly after Canadian regulators said prediction markets shouldn’t offer sports or entertainment bets, the Canadian Lottery Coalition says they aren’t going far enough. The group wants provinces to enact stronger regulatory safeguards on prediction contracts, arguing they still function like gambling and divert revenue from regulated channels like the lottery.
How GM Canada is Steering a Global Mobility Strategy from Ontario
