Champagne Says Canada Only Wants ‘Trusted’ AI Partners as Huawei Decision Looms

A technician stands at the entrance to a Huawei 5G data center at the Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital in Guangzhou, in southern China's Guangdong province, Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021. AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says Canada only wants to deal with “trusted partners” in future artificial intelligence ventures.

Champagne’s comments to The Canadian Press send a strong signal that the Canadian rejection of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei as a 5G provider is at hand.