OTTAWA — Canada’s intelligence agency warns foreigners will turn to espionage and interference tactics to target Canada’s growing artificial intelligence (AI) sector.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) says in a recent letter that countries like China and Russia can take an interest in Canada’s AI by any means available, including government-sponsored investments and the use of secret agents.

Analysis by the federal agency’s Intelligence Assessment Service was completed in July 2021 but was only recently released to The Canadian Press in response to a freedom of information request filed in October of that year.

Canada’s technological innovation and resulting economic advancement are vulnerable to foreign forces, we learn.

For example, according to CSIS, emerging artificial intelligence capabilities will be key to developing ways to reduce plastic in the oceans, find a vaccine to treat the next pandemic, curb polluting emissions that are causing climate change, and find safe navigation methods for autonomous driving viewed by automobiles.

The analysis finds that artificial intelligence is a priority for Canada as it is seen as essential to the national goals of innovation and prosperity.

However, the brief states that “many other countries, including hostile state actors, have established their own national AI strategies and goals, and that some of these countries, notably China and Russia, will use espionage and outside-influenced activities to their own activities to advance national interests at Canada’s expense. »

As a result, according to CSIS, artificial intelligence has been reflected in the federal government’s intelligence priorities for several years.