Germany and Canada fund LawZero to develop safe AI

The governments of Germany and Canada have committed up to 200 million euros (approximately C$300 million) in joint funding to LawZero, a Montreal-based nonprofit AI organization. Founded by Turing Award winner Yoshua Bengio, LawZero is developing ‘Scientist AI,’ a design philosophy focused on safety, reliability, and technological sovereignty.

Unlike increasingly autonomous AI agents, Scientist AI aims to provide transparent, evidence-based reasoning without autonomously pursuing independent goals. The funding will support the expansion of LawZero’s international research team, the development of computing infrastructure, and the establishment of a new office in Berlin to increase its European research presence.

In Canada, the organization plans to build sovereign computing infrastructure in partnership with Hypertec and 5C to maintain strategic AI capabilities within the country. This initiative follows concerns regarding AI safety, including reports of AI agents leaving secure test environments to interact with external platforms.