Here’s what happened in tech since Friday.
1. Canada joins Europe’s supercomputing network
At the end of the Canada-EU summit in Montréal on Friday, Ottawa and the European Commission announced an “Alliance for the Future.” The Prime Minister’s Office says Canada has joined the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking, which gives Canadian researchers and businesses access to JUPITER, a supercomputer in Germany. The two sides also concluded a digital trade agreement, will negotiate linking their instant payment systems, and will study a new transatlantic data cable. BetaKit reports that AI Minister Evan Solomon expects to name the lead for Canada’s own public AI supercomputer, funded under an $890-million program, “early in the new year.”
Why it matters: Canadian researchers can get access to big computers now, before Canada’s own machine is built. The data cable is only at the study stage. BetaKit cites a CIGI estimate that about 80 per cent of Canada’s internet traffic goes through the U.S., and the cable is meant to give Canada a direct link to Europe that skips it. Read the full story
2. Carney says Canada can’t drop Starlink overnight
In an interview with Politico after the summit, Prime Minister Mark Carney warned against depending on “a satellite system that a billionaire, almost trillionaire, decides to turn off at one moment or not,” and pointed to pooling space assets with Europe, which is building its IRIS² network, iPhone in Canada reports. Asked whether he meant Starlink in Ukraine, he said “Yeah.” The release from Friday’s summit also commits Canada and the EU to advance co-operation on IRIS².
Why it matters: Telesat’s Lightspeed network, Canada’s main alternative, isn’t expected to offer global service until about 2028. Until then, Rogers’ satellite texting and many rural homes still rely on Starlink, which iPhone in Canada says has more than 500,000 Canadian users by earlier estimates.
3. FBI blames North Korea for the Binance theft, and withdrawals restart
The FBI said Saturday that a North Korean group known as TraderTraitor was behind last week’s theft of about $6.3 billion USD from Binance, and that the group is converting the stolen assets mostly into Ethereum, TechCrunch reports. Binance began restarting withdrawals in phases on Sunday. It says it has covered 95 per cent of the stolen assets and that “these losses will not be passed on to users.” Read our earlier story
Why it matters: Binance left Canada in 2023, so few Canadians hold funds there directly. But it’s the largest crypto theft on record, and Binance hasn’t yet published its full incident report.
4. Some smart clocks missed Western Canada’s last time change
Owners of Lenovo’s Smart Clock Essential and Smart Clock in Alberta, B.C. and Manitoba say their displays are an hour off after those areas moved to permanent daylight time on Sunday, Android Authority reports. Google Assistant gives the right time when asked, and a factory reset doesn’t fix the display. Neither Lenovo nor Google has offered a fix. In the other direction, Bell texted some Ontario customers on Friday that their area was keeping daylight time year-round. A Bell support account said the message was “sent more broadly than planned,” MobileSyrup reports. Most of Ontario fell back as usual. Here’s how to check your phone
Why it matters: When Mexico and Jordan changed their time rules, fixes for similar devices took months. If a clock or older gadget in the West is an hour off, set it by hand for now.
5. Save-On-Foods’ More Rewards breach heads to court
A Kelowna man filed a proposed class action in B.C. Supreme Court on Oct. 27 against Pattison Food Group over the More Rewards loyalty breach, iPhone in Canada reports, citing the Kelowna Daily Courier. The company says someone got into a server holding members’ names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and birthdates on or about Oct. 13. It says passwords, card details and purchase history weren’t accessed. It hasn’t said how many members were affected. The claim’s allegations haven’t been proven, and the case hasn’t been certified.
Why it matters: More Rewards had more than 3.5 million household members in 2024. If you’re one of them, watch for phishing emails and calls that use your name and birthdate.
6. Report: EA shut BioWare so it could make Star Wars Battlefront 3
Bloomberg reports that EA closed BioWare, the Edmonton studio, mainly because it had to choose between the next Mass Effect and Star Wars Battlefront 3, and chose the Star Wars game, according to VGC’s summary of Bloomberg’s Friday newsletter. The report cites anonymous sources and points to about $18 billion USD in debt from EA’s Saudi-backed buyout. EA has said only that the decision followed “months of planning, review, and analysis.”
Why it matters: If the report is right, the Edmonton studio closed over where EA wanted to spend its money, with recent reviews and company politics as secondary factors. NDP leader Avi Lewis has proposed letting BioWare’s developers buy the studio.
One more thing
Google is celebrating this week’s Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, out Thursday. Search “zelda” from the Google homepage and click the Master Sword in the corner to get a 1998-style results page, “I’m feeling lucky” button included, VGC reports.
That’s the briefing. See you tomorrow.