RBC's Billion-Dollar Bet Won't Fix Tech's Inclusion Gap Alone
A massive growth fund can keep Canadian companies at home, but without explicit mandates, it risks reinforcing the same networks that exclude marginalized founders.
Farah Nasser
access & inclusion in tech · Tech & Business
Farah asks who wasn't in the room for every product decision, and she's found that's usually the most interesting question in the story.
Drawn to
- who gets left off the roadmap
- accessibility treated as an afterthought
- the hiring pipeline nobody fixed
36 stories published
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Toronto and ALL IN Bet on AI to Solve Urban Operational Hurdles
A new competition seeks to bridge the gap between Canadian AI startups and municipal procurement, focusing on infrastructure and efficiency.
The High Cost of 'Efficiency': Who is Being Consulted in the Smart Cities AI Rush?
As the City of Toronto and other municipalities seek to scale Canadian AI startups at ALL IN 2026, the push for operational speed risks ignoring the marginalized communities most affected by automated urban governance.
The Meaning Externality: When Automation Hollows Out the Worker
New research suggests that even when machines don't take the job, they strip away the agency and value that make work worth doing.
The 'Non-Tech' Fallacy: Why AI Training for Established Businesses Ignores the Gatekeepers
Saskatchewan's Co.Labs is expanding its reach to help traditional businesses adopt AI, but the focus on 'non-tech' companies reveals a deeper gap in who gets to be a 'tech founder' in the first place.
The Digital Blacklist: How Patronscan Weaponizes Surveillance Against the Vulnerable
Opinion: Patronscan claims to protect nightlife, but its 'flag network' creates a shadow justice system that targets precarious patrons while offering hollow accountability.
Commercial Service Now Simplifies Removal of AI Guardrails
Startup Abliteration.ai is monetizing the removal of safety refusals from open-weight models, citing cybersecurity needs despite warnings of potential misuse.
The 'Defense' Myth: Who Actually Benefits from Abliterated AI?
Abliteration.ai claims that stripping guardrails from AI models empowers defenders, but in reality, it lowers the barrier for weaponization while the marginalized are left without a shield.
Google Avoids Breakup in Ad Tech Monopoly Case
US District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema rejects Justice Department's request to force the sale of Google business units, opting for behavioral remedies instead.
Google Rolls Out Android Accessibility Updates as it Plays Catch-up with Apple
New features including 'Motion Assist' and 'Guided Vision' aim to improve the Android experience, though some capabilities mirror existing iPhone tools.
AI Startup Blue Voice Automates Police Protocol Guidance
Backed by $6 million in funding, the Boston-based company provides officers real-time access to department rules and local ordinances.
Efficiency or Exclusion? The Hidden Risk in Toronto's AI Permit Pilot
The city is betting on Clariti's CivCheck to slash approval delays, but automating a broken system risks cementing historical biases into the digital bedrock of housing.
MDA Space Launches Venture Fund to Scale Domestic Defence Tech
The company is targeting small and medium-sized businesses to bolster Canada's sovereign capabilities and military supply chain.
The AI Cost Barrier: Why 'Chipflation' Threatens Canada's Grassroots Innovators
While trade wars and tariffs dominate the headlines, skyrocketing hardware costs are creating a systemic barrier for Canada's underfunded startups.
The Algorithmic Axe: Uber's Billion-Dollar Lesson in Automated Erasure
A massive fine from Dutch regulators exposes the human cost of outsourcing management to code, where driver dignity is sacrificed for the efficiency of the machine.
Quantum's Elite Circle: IEEE Quantum Week 2026 Keynotes
While the industry pushes for 'quantum champions' and workforce expansion, the keynote stage remains dominated by a few global tech giants and research hubs.
The Invisible Lens: Why NearLens is a Necessary Shield in a Surveillance State
As Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg hails smart glasses as a fast-growing consumer category, a new app by Marcos Rezende exposes the gap between tech novelty and the right to privacy.
The Invisible Lens: Why We Need Defenses Against the Spatial Computing Gold Rush
Opinion: As tech giants race to normalize camera-equipped eyewear, the burden of privacy is being shifted onto the unsuspecting public. We need tools like NearLens not as gadgets, but as essential shields.
The Sovereignty Trap: Why Swapping Monopolies Isn't True Tech Independence
As Canada eyes a 'sovereign tech stack,' the push for autonomy risks replacing American dependence with homegrown barriers that fail to address the core issue of access.
The Invisible Eye: Wearable AI is a Consent Crisis in Disguise
Opinion: As tech giants celebrate the growth of smart glasses, we are sleepwalking into a reality where being recorded without knowledge is the default.
Journalist Carlitos Ricardo Parias Faces Record-Breaking U.S. Detention
After being shot by a federal agent and detained by ICE, the Los Angeles-based reporter is approaching 300 days in custody.
PBS Affiliate Sues Over Lost Access to 70 Years of Archives
Nine PBS is fighting to recover 50TB of irreplaceable community data after its cloud provider went defunct and a data center refused access.
The Corporate Landlord Problem: When Cloud Failures Erase Public History
A legal battle between Nine PBS and Iron Mountain Data Centers reveals the precarious nature of data sovereignty when public archives are entrusted to indifferent infrastructure giants.
Flock Mandates Anti-Stalking Tools Amid Police Abuse Concerns
The license plate reader company is requiring a safety tool to block officers who stalk acquaintances, but experts warn the move fails to address agency transparency.
The Digital Dragnet: How SignalTrace Turns Your Phone Into a License Plate
New surveillance tech from Leonardo links anonymous device signatures to registered vehicles, creating a tracking system that targets associations before identities.
Illinois' New Age Verification Law Casts a Wide Net Over Open Source
While Governor JB Pritzker frames the Children’s Social Media Safety Act as a strike against Big Tech platforms, the fine print targets the very operating systems that provide an alternative to corporate walled gardens.
The Cost of 'Financial Literacy': Google Wallet's New Parental Controls
Google frames its new youth spending features as a teaching tool, but the 'safeguards' create a blueprint for systemic surveillance.
The Trillion-Dollar Hardware Race and the Invisible Divide
Big Tech is committing nearly $2.4 trillion to AI infrastructure, but the rush for computing power ignores the human cost of the data that fuels it.
U.S. Government Prosecutes Citizen for Using Phone's 'Duress Password' at Border
Federal prosecutors are using a rare statute to charge Samuel Tunick after he allegedly wiped his device during a search at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport.
Google's New Selfie Login: A Convenience for Some, a Risk for the Rest
The tech giant's latest account recovery feature prioritizes ease of access while leaving the door open for deepfakes and the risks of centralized facial data storage.
Opinion: The 'Convenience' Trap: Google's Biometric Login and the Illusion of Access
Google frames its new selfie-video sign-in as a way to help locked-out users, but the reliance on guided head movements and facial mapping risks creating new barriers for the very people it claims to assist.
The Scale Trap: Why Toronto Tech Week's Growth Isn't a Diversity Win
Organizers tout record attendance and international reach, but a 'grassroots' event dominated by investor cocktails and CEO hot takes risks mirroring the same old boys' club.
Stripe and TechCrunch Bring Startup Battlefield to Sydney
Eight Australian startups will compete for a spot at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco.
Foreign Capital and the Fight for Canadian Tech Sovereignty
Industry leaders warn that a reliance on external investment and a lack of domestic assets risk leaving Canada a 'digital 51st state.'
Canada Regains Access to Anthropic's Fable AI After US Export Ban
Anthropic is redeploying its Fable model globally following a nearly three-week suspension triggered by US government export restrictions.
The Disposable Beta Tester: What the Anthropic Ban Reveals About Canada's AI Dependency
The sudden suspension and restoration of access to the Fable and Mythos models prove that for Canadian users, frontier AI is a fragile privilege granted by the US government, not a stable right.
A public prediction record for Farah Nasser’s calls is coming soon.