Calgary-based Tetra Trust is one step closer to launching its Canadian dollar-backed stablecoin. “[This is] a meaningful step towards bringing digital efficiency to an environment built on trust and Canadian sovereignty.” In September, looking to expand beyond its roots as a regulated cryptocurrency custodian, Tetra Trust formed a new parent company that raised $10-million CAD…
GPTZero, the startup behind an artificial intelligence (AI) detector that checks for large language model (LLM)-generated content, has found that 50 peer-reviewed submissions to the International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR) contain at least one obvious hallucinated citation—meaning a citation that was dreamed up by AI. ICLR is the leading academic conference that focuses on…
Matthew Lombardi is the co-founder of The Icebreaker, Canada’s defence innovation network. The United States released its new National Security Strategy last week, a document that makes something brutally clear: the era of Canada living as a wealthy nation, renting its security from Uncle Sam at a steep discount, is over. A reflexive historical response…
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Across India, millions of women now receive a modest but unwavering deposit each month into their bank accounts. The money is not tied to a job, a poverty line, or a performance requirement. It arrives because state governments have decided that women’s unpaid labor keeps households functioning and deserves…
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM A vision board might look like a crafty throwback to childhood afternoons spent collaging. But don’t write it off now that you’re #adulting. This practice is far more than a cut-and-paste project. Vision boards are a creative and science-backed tool for setting intentions, visualizing goals, and keeping them front…
The co-founders of data infrastructure startup Deck are being sued by the owners of their former company, Flinks, for allegedly violating a non-compete agreement. The lawsuit alleges that Leboeuf and Lavoie gradually “disengaged” themselves from running the startup they built, despite their executive roles. National Bank and its subsidiary Flinks filed a lawsuit in the…
The federal government is launching its own quantum research program in response to a United States military-backed initiative courting Canadian firms. “This investment is foundational for cultivating a strong quantum computing industry in this country. And it is a clear indication to both foreign and domestic investors that Canada is serious about quantum.” Julien Camirand…
Coinbase Canada CEO Lucas Matheson will leave the crypto exchange this week to join San Francisco-based real estate tech firm Opendoor as president, becoming the latest in a string of Shopify alumni to jump ship to the Silicon Valley company. “I had the opportunity to work with Kaz [Nejatian] at Shopify and couldn’t imagine a…
Toronto-based Tuhk has raised $6 million USD ($8.3 million CAD) in seed funding as it prepares a wider launch of its financial crime-fighting platform. The financial cybersecurity startup launched this year and aims to help financial institutions, merchants, and other service providers identify fraudulent payment activity and shut it down. Tuhk co-founder Heather Lamont explained…
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In a transformative leap for regenerative medicine, scientists have developed the first entirely human-engineered bone marrow system. This lab-grown “blood factory” may change how researchers study blood diseases, test treatments, and ultimately care for patients battling conditions like leukemia and anemia. Constructed from human cells and built to replicate…
