Tech Roundup
April 7, 2026

Headlines

• Antigoni Studios is putting on an event on April 28 to launch Canada's first femtech venture studio. It's aimed at entrepreneurs and investors focused on women's health and innovation.
• Bitcoin Well has reported strong early momentum in the U.S. market, with its Bitcoin Portal generating more than US$9 million in transaction volume and its registered American user base growing from roughly 11,000 in 2024 to more than 20,000 by March 2026.
• Zero Point Cryogenics is providing the dilution refrigeration system for Canada's first full-stack, university-owned quantum computer, to be installed at the University of Saskatchewan with more than $2 million in support from the federal and provincial governments.
• In his address to graduates at the winter convocation for the University of Alberta, Rich Sutton said that true AI has not yet arrived, but the public is now grasping its inevitability. "Machine minds will be joining us in the near future," said Sutton, the chief scientific advisor at the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute. "I want you to be open, humble and generous to the new arrivals."
• Generative AI is automating plagiarism, enabling non-consensual deepfake imagery, and undermining truth, Sen. Paula Simons wrote in Alberta Views. "What worries me isn't smart computers — it's stupid humans, using the crudest energy-sucking generative AI tools to make themselves dumber, debase creativity, and undermine the very concept of truth itself," she wrote.
• AI could replace the 40-year-old model of off-the-shelf software products with purpose-built, ephemeral tools assembled on demand, wrote tech consultant Bryan Kulba. He argued that organizations should invest in making their data accessible through clean APIs rather than controlling the user experience directly.
• The RCMP is testing AI-drafted incident reports in 10 Alberta and B.C. detachments, using Axon's Draft One software to generate draft narratives from body camera audio. Officers must change a minimum of 10% of any AI draft before submitting it and sign off on its accuracy. Meanwhile, the Edmonton Police Service is testing facial recognition via body-camera footage.
• The Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute has launched AI Pathways: Technical Track, a specialized follow-up to its AI literacy program for Canadian energy workers, targeting professionals with software development or computer science backgrounds. The track focuses on machine-learning operations, scalable deployment, and legacy systems integration, and reached full capacity immediately upon release.
• Prairies Economic Development Canada has invested more than $7 million through the Regional Tariff Response Initiative to strengthen operations amid tariff pressures for Alberta businesses. Apollo Machine and Welding Ltd. received $1 million to adopt machine learning into its business, while the Alberta Chambers of Commerce received $3.5 million for trade missions and supply chain support.
• Mayor Andrew Knack and Edmonton Global are on a trade mission to Japan and China to promote the capital region for investment in advanced manufacturing, technology, and sustainable energy. Edmonton Global CEO Daryn Edgar told CTV the discussions could represent up to $2 billion in capital investment and 300 to 400 permanent jobs.
• Heidelberg Materials has completed its acquisition of BURNCO's assets in Edmonton. The acquired assets include six aggregates sites, two asphalt plants, a bitumen storage terminal, three ready-mixed concrete plants, and one rail-served cement distribution terminal. Oliver Patsch of Heidelberg Materials said the move strengthens its integrated footprint in the Edmonton market, expands its product portfolio, and will improve customer service.
• Hydrogen needs as much attention as bitumen as Alberta and Ottawa chart the course for developing energy, wrote Rebecca Goldsack of Diesel Tech Industries and Maike Althaus of the Canadian Hydrogen Association. "If Alberta limits its ambition to bitumen, it risks missing a chance to diversify exports, hedge against long-term oil demand uncertainty, and leverage its skilled energy workforce to anchor next-generation hydrogen and industrial value chains as global markets shift," they wrote in an op-ed for Postmedia.
• Aqua-Cell Energy is planning to launch a new pilot in Medicine Hat this spring after raising $3.5 million to develop saltwater flow batteries. The startup says the batteries could cost 80% to 90% less than lithium-ion equivalents.
• Digital Alberta was pleased to see a $15-million increase to the Canada Media Fund's interactive digital media pool, bringing the total to $57 million for the 2026–2027 cycle. Alberta ranked third in Canada for IDM funding in 2025, overtaking British Columbia.
• Beamdog co-founder Trent Oster shared reflections on how game development has changed over time, writing that "the Budget Wars were hard, but their time is passing." Oster was also a co-founder of success story BioWare, but left to pursue an indie path after the company was acquired by Electronic Arts. "Electronic Arts is an interesting animal once you understand it. It has a fundamental need to generate money on a fairly short-term basis," Oster told Taproot in 2023. "They need to make a lot of money to pay all the bills, because they've got thousands of employees."
• The Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute has added Peter Tertzakian and Veer Gidwaney to its board of directors. Tertzakian is the founder of Studio.Energy and brings four decades of energy sector experience; Gidwaney is a three-time entrepreneur whose most recent company, Ansel Health, was acquired in 2025.
• Alberta is not considering social media restrictions for youth, the province's justice ministry said, following Australia's ban on social media for those under 16. However, the federal Liberal Party is set to debate social media age restrictions at its national convention.

Happenings

Here are some events coming up over the next seven days:

• April 8: Bioeconomy Guild Night starting at 5pm at MKT Fresh Food | Beer Market
• April 11: Voices and Ventures 2026 starting at 11am at Alberta Aviation Museum
• April 13: Edmonton Ecommerce Meetup starting at 5pm at Poppy Barley (Office)

And here are some upcoming events to keep in mind:

• April 21-23: Canadian Hydrogen Convention at Edmonton Convention Centre
• April 22: MARIOS - Advanced Mechanical Testing to Address Mine Site Challenges online
• April 23: Tech in the City: The future of Edmonton's Built Environment at Fu's Repair Shop

Visit the Taproot Edmonton Calendar for many more events in the Edmonton region.