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Latest from BC + AI

What We Learned Running the First AI Animation Accelerator

What We Learned Running the First AI Animation Accelerator

(And Why We're Doing It Again)

The AI Values Gap

The AI Values Gap

April 7. Sunny day in Vancouver. One of those spring afternoons where the mountains are out and nobody wants to be inside. I'm sitting with June and a few others, and Sev and April are standing up front about to do something nobody in this community has done before.

Launch of Comox Valley AI Community Meetup: CV + AI

Launch of Comox Valley AI Community Meetup: CV + AI

He's been doing multimodal AI evaluation work for almost two years now. 'Access to compute is really the trick,' he said. 'You could buy off-lease enterprise grade hardware off eBay for fractions of cents on the dollar.'

BC + AI's Ethics Community Responds to Canada's National AI Task Force Consultation

BC + AI's Ethics Community Responds to Canada's National AI Task Force Consultation

The result? A report containing 'conflicting recommendations reflecting sharply different visions' with no clear implementation priorities.

Dispatches from Canada's First AI + Culture Summit

Dispatches from Canada's First AI + Culture Summit

I feel like I'm in the right place at the right time.

Both Hands Full: What Creatives Actually Need to Know About AI

Both Hands Full: What Creatives Actually Need to Know About AI

'Both Hands Full' challenges creatives to reject both uncritical AI hype and pure resistance, instead walking forward holding critique in one hand and curiosity in the other.

BC's Response to the Canada’s AI Task Force

BC's Response to the Canada’s AI Task Force

Last year, 645 British Columbians participated in Canada's AI Task Force consultation. That's 20.6% of everyone who responded nationwide, second only to Ontario.

Launching the BC + AI Film Club

Launching the BC + AI Film Club

It’s here. After two years of late-night brainstorms, cinematic experiments, and a community that’s evolved from “what if…” to “let’s fucking go,” we’re officially launching the BC + AI Film Club.

Community AI Pathways for BC’s Look West Report

Community AI Pathways for BC’s Look West Report

British Columbia just dropped Look West a 10-year bet on major projects, skilled workers, and strategic sectors like AI and quantum.

Canada Budget 2025 × BC + AI

Canada Budget 2025 × BC + AI

Love the direction. A government that actually uses Canadian AI creates real demand, reference customers, and a pathway to scale for BC startups and researchers.

Community Spotlight: Dean Shev

Community Spotlight: Dean Shev

Dean learned early that passion doesn't pay bills. Growing up in a family of engineers where everything was math and logic, music was a dream. Engineering was survival.

Documenting the BC + AI Ecosystem Movement

Documenting the BC + AI Ecosystem Movement

UBC's BC Studies Journal has published a case study on the Vancouver AI Community and BC+AI Ecosystem.

Data for Good Keynote: The Story of BC + AI

Data for Good Keynote: The Story of BC + AI

Premier David Eby’s response to criticism? 'If voters don't like it, they can vote me out next year.'

BC + AI’s Platform for Canada’s AI Task Force

BC + AI’s Platform for Canada’s AI Task Force

On paper, it's a pivot moment. In practice, it's already drawing fire. Too much weight on scaling, not enough on governance. Too many boardrooms, not enough frontlines. Too much Ottawa, not enough ground truth.

When Trees Talk Back: Vancouver AI Community Meetup September 2025 #VAI21

When Trees Talk Back: Vancouver AI Community Meetup September 2025 #VAI21

We gathered to talk about something most tech conferences won't touch: who gets to decide how Indigenous knowledge enters AI systems, and what happens when you actually ask permission first.

When a Healthcare Data Analyst Drops an AI Album That Makes You Cry

When a Healthcare Data Analyst Drops an AI Album That Makes You Cry

You know that moment when someone completely redefines what you thought was possible? That happened to me… and 250 other people… when Dean Shev stepped onto our stage at the 20th Vancouver AI Community meetup.

August 2025: Vancouver AI Commnity Meetup Recap: VanAI #20

August 2025: Vancouver AI Commnity Meetup Recap: VanAI #20

Carol Ann stepped to the mic after Gabriel George’s Eagle song ceremony, carrying forward the sacred space set through traditional opening. This was the official launch of the BC AI Ecosystem Association as a nonprofit, coinciding with her board membership announcement.

Rocks, Racks & Rights: Canada's Blueprint for the AI Energy Wars

Rocks, Racks & Rights: Canada's Blueprint for the AI Energy Wars

So what kind should we choose?

How to Build an Agentic Coding Pipeline

How to Build an Agentic Coding Pipeline

Your agents aren’t “AI gods.” They’re specialists you brief like adults and constrain like toddlers. Give them a lane, a rulebook, and a baton pass. They’ll run all night.

Community Spotlight: Loki Jorgensen

Community Spotlight: Loki Jorgensen

Loki came up through the precision world of physics — crunching numbers, simulating systems, mapping reality one equation at a time. But somewhere along the way, the numbers started pointing to bigger questions.

Canadian Plan for Regenerative AI

Canadian Plan for Regenerative AI

We offer three proposals designed to advance federal priorities while respecting local context and sovereignty. Each is crafted as a co‑investment model—shared risk, shared outcomes.

Why Build Your AI Company in Vancouver?

Why Build Your AI Company in Vancouver?

Here’s the pitch, stitched from the underground wisdom of BC’s ecosystem documents, the voices in the trenches, and the vibes in Mount Pleasant coffee shops.

BC Launches New AI Industry Association

BC Launches New AI Industry Association

Canada Appoints AI Minister Evan Solomon

Canada Appoints AI Minister Evan Solomon

Let's be straight: Canada's slide from 3rd to 47th in global e-government rankings isn't just a statistical blip. It's evidence of a systemic failure to recognize digital infrastructure as essential to our national future.

BC + AI backs  Hinton’s call for regulation.

BC public opinion lines up with him:

BC's AI Crossroads

BC's AI Crossroads

Dennis Thomas opened in his traditional langugage and laid down the 'take only what you need' algorithm: mini-robots teaching kids sustainable berry-picking; Inuit elders + AI sonar mapping fish runs lost to climate chaos.

Building Sovereign AI Infrastructure for What Comes Next

Building Sovereign AI Infrastructure for What Comes Next

Twenty people log into Zoom from Chilliwack to Chile. Gabriel Zaro catches it right away: 'There's as many AI note takers in this meeting as there are people. We're that type of crowd, eh?'

State of the BC + AI Economy

State of the BC + AI Economy

The British Columbia Artificial Intelligence ecosystem isn't some massive corporate machine – it's more like a mycorrhizal network in the forest, you feel me? Small but mighty, connecting different species of thinkers: the academic deep divers, the creative edge-pushers, the environmental warriors.

Vancouver AI: Building BC's AI Future

Vancouver AI: Building BC's AI Future

Dr. Illes, trailblazing neuroethicist, is Professor of Neurology at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Distinguished University Scholar, UBC Distinguished Scholar in Neuroethics, and Director of Neuroethics Canada: Photography by Michelle Diamond

AI & Real-Time Content Creation: Behind the Scenes with Kevin Friel

AI & Real-Time Content Creation: Behind the Scenes with Kevin Friel

AWS Community Day Vancouver showcased innovative AI-driven content creation tools, enhancing interviews and artistic performances with real-time generative technology.

PLAYLIST: Vancouver AI Community Spotlights

PLAYLIST: Vancouver AI Community Spotlights

What's Happening in BC in AI and ML?

That's BC innovation. We don't just solve problems—we reinvent how problems get solved.

BC + AI Report 2024

To provide a comprehensive snapshot of BC’s AI ecosystem, identifying its unique strengths, challenges, and opportunities.