‘Lot of fear’: Federal employees reeling from ‘chaos and turmoil’ created by Trump admin

EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE, ALL AT ONCE

Erik De La Garza
January 30, 2025 

RAW STORY

FILE PHOTO: Elon Musk speaks with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket in Brownsville, Texas, U.S., November 19, 2024 Brandon Bell/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Federal employees struggling to grasp President Donald Trump’s flurry of new executive orders are feeling the “chaos” that has taken over their jobs in the opening days of the administration.

Civil servants across multiple agencies expressed “fear” about being fired and described work morale as “low” as the new administration swiftly upends the U.S. government in Trump’s name, NBC News reported.

“There’s a lot of fear about returning to the office,” one official at the U.S. Agency for International Development told the outlet. The agency that administers foreign aid has seen some of the biggest shakeups over the last 10 days, which the official said, “has sent a chill through the building.”

Government workers this week began receiving emails allowing them to take a “deferred resignation,” which includes a severance package of approximately eight months’ pay with benefits. But that appears to have added to their stress levels.

“There’s a lot of skepticism about that, given the fact that this email seemed to model Elon Musk’s email to the Twitter folks who never got paid,” the official said, according to the news report. “So it’s caused a lot of chaos and turmoil. I think the point is to really scare people and make them think that their jobs are threatened. It’s definitely working.”

“It is chaos over here right now,” a second USAID official told NBC News this week of the work atmosphere at the agency. “People in the halls are getting texts saying to log off of all government equipment and leave the building. No official announcements have been made, but individuals are being notified. People are walking around, whispering and crying. It’s like watching a sniper work through a captive crowd.”

An official at the Department of Transportation viewed the move to end remote work as offensive.

“They’re trying to insult us, to be honest, to say that we’re not being productive,” the official told NBC News. “And that’s simply not the case for a lot of people who are working remotely. … We have so many different series of jobs that don’t require people to be in the building.”

“It’s very low,” an employee at the Social Security Administration told the network of office morale. “There are a lot of people looking for other work. … We’re afraid to get fired. I don’t have a backup job right now and I understand that the market is getting ready to be saturated. We already have several people who are leaving our office.”

Still, White House officials have defended its efforts to dramatically alter federal agencies – a key campaign pledge of Trump’s.

“For far too long, a bloated federal bureaucracy has cost American taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars each year while strangling American enterprise and families with burdensome rules and regulations,” according to a statement from White House spokesperson Kush Desai. “President Trump received a resounding mandate to streamline our gargantuan government to better serve the needs of the American people. He will use every lever of executive and legislative power to deliver.”

MAHA Moms: Why RFK Jr's health agenda resonates with MAGA  Americans

Agence France-Presse
January 30, 2025

Chana Walker (3rd L) poses with members of "Moms for America" at the US Senate on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on January 30, 2025. (AFP)

by Issam AHMED

He has been pilloried for his vaccine skepticism, but Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s push to reduce America's reliance on processed foods and pharmaceuticals has also struck a chord.

As RFK Jr. faced hostile questions from Senate Democrats during his confirmation hearing, the corridors were filled with supporters eager to catch a glimpse of their hero -- now bidding to become President Donald Trump's health secretary.

"H was a huge factor in my vote for Trump," said Chana Walker, a 37-year-old hairstylist and former Democratic voter, as she waited outside an overflow room with fellow fans of Kennedy's "Make America Healthy Again" movement.

For these "Moms for RFK," concerns about food additives, water pollution and rising autism rates -- issues that resonate with scientists and elements of the political left -- intertwine with a mistrust of the medical system and skepticism toward vaccine safety that can drift from established facts.

Sporting matching purple shirts, they came from varied political backgrounds, defying easy categorization.

"If you look over in Europe, you can probably name and recognize most of the ingredients," said Emily Stack, the 30-year-old political director of Moms for America.

"But here, you look at the same product and can't even pronounce half of them."


Priscilla Lyons, a 35-year-old who works in sales, said she opposes Ozempic-like drugs as a quick fix for America's obesity epidemic.

She's inspired by Kennedy's emphasis on organic foods and exercise to address root causes rather than enriching pharmaceutical companies.

When the subject turns to how the US health care system manages depression, the group sighs in agreement.

"It's always, 'take pills,'" said Rachel Truhlar, a 52-year-old military spouse.
- Growing movement -
Kennedy, 71, was once a celebrated environmental lawyer who accused climate change deniers of treason.

By the mid-2000s, he began shifting his focus toward public health, taking on obesity and criticizing harmful practices by Big Agriculture.

However, he also took a hard turn toward conspiracy theories, chairing Children's Health Defense -- a nonprofit widely regarded as a source of vaccine misinformation.

In a recent book, he went so far as to question whether germs truly cause disease and cast doubt on whether HIV causes AIDS, positions thoroughly at odds with scientific consensus.

Epidemiologist Syra Madad, a fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center, believes Kennedy has succeeded in exploiting a void left by successive governments' failure to address persistent public health problems.

"They're highlighting statistics that are true -- like the obesity crisis -- and as a mom of three, that resonates with me," she told AFP.

"I'm very conscious about what my children eat and what they put into their bodies."


Yet she faults Kennedy for "bumper sticker" slogans that lack deeper substance, coupled with his harmful anti-science positions.

"That's where the rubber meets the road: when you look at RFK -- his experience, his line of thinking, and who he surrounds himself with -- it's concerning because he doesn't support science-based evidence."

Madad also found it troubling that Kennedy, during his hearing, seriously downplayed his history of hostility toward vaccines -- from falsely linking the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) shot to autism, to calling Covid-19 vaccines the "deadliest ever made."

On the question of vaccines, the Moms for RFK generally take a dim view.


Walker noted that while her son received his early-childhood shots, she eventually sought a religious exemption so he would not need any further ones.

Another member, 49-year-old business owner Shari Nielsen, blamed Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine for her husband's heart problems.

How did human brains get so big? The answer is with our gut microbes


By Dr. Tim Sandle
January 28, 2025

DIGITAL JOURNAL


Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Public Health Image Library, NIAID, Image ID: 18139)

Microbes supporting the production of more metabolic energy could be key to the evolution of large brains. This is based on a study that shows how gut microbes from different animal species shape variations in their biology.

In particular, the research offers new take on human evolution, especially in relation to the evolution of our large brains. This is based on animal studies, which showed how mice with large-brain primate microbes eat more, but grow slower and put on less body fat.

Furthermore, these mice use the excess energy to produce high levels of glucose, which is the brain’s primary fuel source.

Brain tissue is among the most energetically costly in the body, and as a result, larger-brained mammals require more energy to support brain growth and maintenance. Specifically, primates with higher encephalization quotients (EQs) (i.e. brain size relative to body size) generally have higher fasting blood glucose.

Yet determining which biological changes allowed human ancestors to meet the very high needs for energy as they evolved larger brains has remained unclear. Now a new Northwestern University study points to the role of gut microbes.

From Anatomy of the Human Body. Image by Henry Vandyke Carter. Creative Commons 3.0.

In a controlled lab experiment, researchers implanted microbes from two large-brain primate species (human and squirrel monkey), and one small-brain primate species (macaque), into mice.

The findings showed the mice with microbes from large-brain primate species produced and used more energy, while those with microbes from the small-brain species stored more energy as fat.

The research is the first to show gut microbes from different animal species shape variations in biology between animal species and supports the hypothesis that gut microbes might influence evolution by changing how an animal’s body works.

After introducing the gut microbes into microbe-free mice, the researchers measured changes in mouse physiology over time, including weight gain, fat percentage, fasting glucose, liver function and other traits. They also measured differences in the types of microbes and the compounds they were producing in each group of mice.

Scientists using laboratory instruments. — Image by © Tim Sandle

According to lead researcher Katherine Amato: “We know the community of microbes living in the large intestine can produce compounds that affect aspects of human biology — for example, causing changes to metabolism that can lead to insulin resistance and weight gain… Variation in the gut microbiota is an unexplored mechanism in which primate metabolism could facilitate different brain-energetic requirements.”

The strongest pattern was the difference between large-brained primates (humans and squirrel monkeys) and smaller-brained primates (macaques).

The researchers have found that the mice given microbes from the humans and squirrel monkeys had similar biology, even though these two larger-brained primate species are not close evolutionary relatives of one another. This suggests something other than shared ancestry — likely their shared trait of large brains is driving the biological similarities seen in the mice inoculated with their microbes.

Specifically, the findings suggest that when humans and squirrel monkeys both separately evolved larger brains, their microbial communities changed in similar ways to help provide the necessary energy.

The findings have been published in the journal Microbial Genomics. The study is titled “The primate gut microbiota contributes to interspecific differences in host metabolism.”

CLIMATE CRI$I$

‘I’m out of here’: French town braces for rising floods

By AFP
January 30, 2025


Surrounded by two rivers, a canal and marshes, several parts of Redon in Brittany have been sitting in water since Wednesday - Copyright SANA/AFP -

Floods had nearly encircled and seeped into a French town on Thursday, with officials warning that one nearby river could reach historic levels in coming days.

The Herminia depression earlier this week unleashed downpours on northwestern France, sparking some of the worst floods in decades.

Surrounded by two rivers, a canal and marshes, several parts of the town of Redon in Brittany have been sitting in water since Wednesday.

The Vilaine river’s level was on Thursday morning hovering just below that of historic floods in 2001, but was expected to rise further during the day, official alert body Vigicrues reported.

Its projections could see the river surge to near a level not seen since 1936.

“It’s highly likely that the peak won’t be reached today, but it will be in the next few days,” said Redon’s Mayor Pascal Duchene.

He said an estimated 750 residents could be affected.

The Red Cross had set up an emergency shelter for 50 people at a local gym, with camp beds lined in a row and tables and chairs set up under its basketball hoops.

A second shelter was being set up at another sports centre for 200 people, a Red Cross official said.

Adeline Bernard, 29, was one of the first people to find refuge at the sport hall.

“When I saw that the electricity was going to cut, and that the water was rising, I thought: ‘That’s it, I’m out of here,'” she said.

Isabelle Rousselet, 66, said she was happy to be living in a higher part of town.

“It will take time for it to all drain away. It’s a bit scary,” she said.

In a flooded part of town, one resident waded through the water at the bottom of her home in rubber boots, while another wobbled along long planks of wood balanced over cinder blocks at one street corner.

In the adjacent town of Saint-Nicolas-de-Redon, on the other side of a flooded bridge, police had evacuated 300 people.

In total, around 1,600 people have been forced to leave their homes in the wider region.

President Emmanuel Macron assured on X on Thursday his “solidarity with resident of the west” of France.

Minister of Ecological Transition Agnes Pannier-Runacher said she expected a “state of natural disaster” in coming days.

Scientists have shown that climate change caused by humans burning fossil fuels is making storms more severe, super-charged by warmer oceans.

Herminia, which brought on the heavy weather over western France, follows Storm Eowyn that hit Ireland and Britain before the weekend.

Its impact on France’s northwestern regions was exacerbated by the fact that the ground was already drenched from previous persistent rainfall.

Japan #MeToo survivor says media are failing in wake of Fuji TV scandal


By AFP

January 28, 2025


Japanese journalist Shiori Ito won a landmark civil case in 2019 against a prominent TV reporter accused of raping her - Copyright AFP/File Behrouz MEHRI

Katie Forster

Japanese media are still failing to report sexual assault cases properly, a key figure in the country’s nascent #MeToo movement told AFP in the wake of the scandal surrounding celebrity Masahiro Nakai and Fuji TV.

Former boy band star Nakai was accused in a tabloid last month of sexually assaulting a woman in 2023, allegedly paying her some 90 million yen (about $570,000) as she signed a non-disclosure agreement.

The furore culminated last week with Nakai, 52, one of Fuji Television’s most famous hosts, announcing his retirement.

Top executives at the company then resigned Monday after facing growing criticism over their handling of the case.

Shiori Ito, who won a landmark civil case in 2019 against a prominent TV reporter accused of raping her, said she was not surprised to hear about the Nakai allegations.

“Japanese media are more comfortable to (report on) sexual violence compared to when I went public in 2017,” said Ito, 35, who has turned her ordeal into an Oscar-nominated documentary.

But the journalist added: “I am disappointed because of how media are always, and still, covering these cases up for powerful people, not just Nakai, but who’s sitting in the boardroom.”

In the Nakai case, most Japanese media used the word “trouble” instead of directly referring to the allegations of sexual violence — something Ito feels “so mad” about.

“It could sound like there was romantic involvement,” or as if “the woman must have done something”, she said.



– ‘Stones thrown’ –



Despite several high-profile cases, Japan has never seen an outpouring of #MeToo allegations, Ito said.

Instead, in Japan, survivors who reveal their identity get “all these stones thrown at them, these nasty words online”, said Ito.

“I knew how hard it would be speaking up about (my) case, as a woman, with my face and name, but I’m still constantly trolled,” she said.

“It’s not creating a safe space for other survivors who could possibly want to speak out to seek justice.”

Government surveys in Japan show few rape victims report the crime to the police, although the number of consultations at sexual violence support centres is increasing.

Former soldier Rina Gonoi won praise but also faced online hate when she posted on YouTube about being sexually assaulted by male colleagues, three of whom were later given suspended jail sentences.

Earlier this month, the president of Fuji Television — who resigned Monday — admitted the channel knew about the Nakai scandal before it was reported in the media and dozens of brands pulled their adverts from the network.

Some media have described an endemic culture within Japan’s entertainment industry of wining and dining top presenters, with women staffers often invited to join such parties.

Ito said this “toxic culture” is easy to imagine, because “sexual violence, harassment, always happens when power is unbalanced”.



– Black Box Diaries –



Ito alleges that former TV journalist Noriyuki Yamaguchi — with close links to then-prime minister Shinzo Abe — raped her after inviting her to dinner to discuss a job opportunity in 2015. He denies the charges.

Her film “Black Box Diaries”, nominated for best documentary feature at the Academy Awards, shows how she was initially ignored by police, prosecutors and many media outlets.

Having told Ito there was insufficient evidence, police then said they would arrest Yamaguchi — before suddenly backing off.

In the film, Ito records one police investigator telling her the order came from “higher-ups”.

She eventually won $30,000 in damages in a civil case followed by a toughening of Japan’s rape laws.

While the documentary has been shown around the world, it has not been released in Japan.

A lawyer representing Ito has said the documentary uses video and audio that was covertly shot or meant for court, which is “legally and ethically problematic”.

“Even though we’re Oscar-nominated, I haven’t been able to show my film in Japan,” Ito said.

“I still feel so isolated.”

TAOIST ASTROLOGY

Hundreds of millions in Asia celebrate Year of the Snake


By AFP
January 28, 2025


A group of women pose for photos under decorations for a temple fair ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations in Beijing - Copyright AFP 

GREG BAKER

Hundreds of millions of people across Asia celebrate the Lunar New Year with their families on Wednesday, as they bid farewell to the Year of the Dragon and usher in the Year of the Snake.

The Chinese enjoy eight consecutive public holidays for the 2025 Spring Festival, an opportunity to share meals, attend traditional performances, and set off firecrackers and fireworks.

Train stations and airports across the country have been jam-packed for weeks as millions returned home to spend the holidays with their loved ones in an annual migration that is expected to be a record.

And high streets, shopping malls, offices and homes are bedecked in festive red banners — believed to ward off evil — across many parts of East and Southeast Asia, including South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand.

“When a new year comes around, I think most people hope to get rich, for work to go smoothly, and for family happiness,” Yang Longhua, a catering company manager, told AFP by a frozen lake where people went to ice skate in Beijing this week.

“In previous years, we were locked down because of the pandemic, so I want to take advantage of this long holiday to experience China, a better, more beautiful China,” said the 26-year-old from Zhoukou, Henan province.

During the traditional 40-day period that runs before, during and after the Lunar New Year holidays, about nine billion interprovincial passenger trips on all forms of transport are expected to be made, according to state news agency Xinhua.

Train and air travel are expected to “hit record highs” during this year’s migration, Xinhua said, with the transport ministry saying it expects 510 million train trips and 90 million air trips during the period.

In Shanghai, Ming Dong said she hoped for “good health and good work” as she visited a lantern festival at the popular Yu Garden to mark the arrival of the Year of the Snake — which symbolises wisdom and vitality in Chinese culture.

“This place has a very Chinese New Year atmosphere, so I came here to take a stroll, and it has a really Chinese feel to it,” the 30-year-old told AFP.



– Snow slows travel –



In South Korea, heavy snowfall caused disruption to train, plane and bus schedules nationwide, as people went to visit their families in the countryside this week.

Passengers were seen at Seoul’s main train station carrying gifts wrapped in colourful cloth and luggage as they prepared to leave the capital.

Images released by local media showed vehicles covered in snow stuck on South Korea’s major highways as heavy winds and snowfall persisted.

Traffic authorities warned it could take more than seven hours on Tuesday to drive from Seoul to the country’s port city of Busan, a journey that typically takes around four hours.

Many others opted to spend the break abroad. The operator of Incheon International Airport announced that more than 2.1 million passengers — averaging 214,000 per day — were expected to use the airport to travel overseas from January 24 to February 2.

“This is projected to be the highest average daily passenger count during the Lunar New Year holiday since the airport opened (in 2001),” the operator said in a statement.

The festivities even extended to space, with Chinese astronauts Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze sending New Year’s Eve greetings from the Tiangong space station on Tuesday.

In a video released by the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), the trio could be seen dressed in blue jumpsuits with traditional red cloud patterns, holding two pieces of paper-cutting featuring the Chinese character “fu”, for good luck.

“In the new year, may all your dreams come true,” Wang said, forming a heart shape above her head.

burs-je/dhc

Tears of joy for Thai hostages freed in Gaza


By AFP
January 30, 2025


Wiwwaeo Sriaoun weeps after hearing confirmation that her son Watchara Sriaoun was among the Thai hostages freed by Hamas

 - Copyright AFP Lillian SUWANRUMPHA

Thanaporn PROMYAMYAI

The families of Thai farm workers held for over a year in Gaza cheered and wept with relief Thursday as they were freed in a hostage-prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas.

Five Thais were freed along with three Israelis held by Hamas as part of a ceasefire deal aimed at ending the Gaza war.

When Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, 31 Thais were abducted, with 23 released by the end of that year and two confirmed dead in May.

“It is confirmed everyone, my son did not die. Thank you God,” Wiwwaeo Sriaoun said as she heard the confirmation that her son Watchara Sriaoun was among those freed.

“I will hug him when I see him. I want to see if his health is OK, I am worried about his health,” she added between sobs.

“Thank you, thank you God he did not die. We trust in God.”

Around 10 family members had gathered to support Wiwwaeo as she waited for news at the modest house on the family rubber farm in northeast Udon Thani region.

Before her son’s release was confirmed, Wiwwaeo spent the day watching news on a tablet computer, hoping for a good outcome.

“Come, come home back to your father, mother and daughter,” she said as she watched.

When Watchara appeared on screen, the family erupted into cheers and shouts of elation.

“It’s him, it’s really him! He does not look thin at all, he looks the same weight but his hair is shorter than before. They probably cut his hair,” his mother said.

Watchara was freed along with Pongsak Tanna, Sathian Suwannakham, Surasak Lamnau and Bannawat Saethao, according to the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

One Thai citizen remains in captivity.



– ‘Could not sleep’ –



Hailing from the poor, rural region of Udon Thani, Watchara moved to Israel three years ago to work as a farmer for better wages.

“My friend called around 10:00 pm and said the ambassador told her five Thais will be released, and my friend said my son could be one,” Wiwwaeo told AFP as she waited for news of the release.

“I could not sleep from then until now. I was up until 3:00 am and my husband and I went out for rubber tapping and since then I have been monitoring the news.”

In Buriram, another part of northeast Thailand, the family of freed hostage Pongsak were similarly elated, sobbing with relief as his release was confirmed.

“I’m so happy,” his father Wilas Tanna said through tears, in footage posted on social media platform X by a Channel News Asia correspondent.



– Farm workers –



Watchara’s younger brother, who was also working in Israel, returned to Thailand after Watchara was kidnapped.

“We told him to come back because we were worried,” his mother told AFP.

Watchara’s aunt Ratana Sriaoun said that after earlier disappointments, the family refused to believe he was coming home until they had official confirmation.

“I am so happy, finally I get to see my nephew,” she told AFP.

“I can’t put these feelings into words. My heart is full, and my tears are of pure joy.”

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said she was “elated”, thanking Qatar, Egypt, Iran, Turkey and the United States for their work to secure the releases.

The foreign ministry said the five would be taken for medical screening and treatment, and were expected to return to Thailand within 10 days.

The Southeast Asian nation has about 30,000 citizens in Israel, most of them working in the agricultural sector, where they earn significantly higher salaries as farm labourers than they would at home.

A total of 46 Thai workers have been killed since the October 2023 attacks, according to the foreign ministry in Bangkok.

Thailand’s labour ministry said last week that the country will expand its workforce in Israel by 13,000 positions.

The sound of silence: Why fear and profit protection are slowing AI progress in Canada


By Chris Hogg
January 28, 2025

DIGITAL JOURNAL


Nicole Janssen is CEO of AltaML. - Photo courtesy AltaML

Nicole Janssen remembers the discomfort of looking around the room trying to figure out why nobody would talk to her.

She had been invited to speak at an insurance summit in Canada, addressing senior executives from some of the country’s top firms.

As the Co-CEO and co-founder of AltaML, Janssen was there to talk about AI and she was scheduled for an opening talk, and a panel later in the event.

But after her opening remarks, something unusual happened — no one approached her.

“No one would talk to me, which usually is not a problem when you’re the speaker,” she says in an interview with Digital Journal in the AltaML head office in Edmonton. “I thought maybe it just didn’t resonate.”

The next day, things only got worse and attendees seemed to be actively avoiding her. So when she sat on her second panel, Janssen decided to address the elephant in the room by turning around and asking the audience directly.

“Why is everyone so afraid of AI?” she recalls asking attendees from the stage. “I’d like to know please. Anybody?”

Later, a participant approached Janssen to talk and admitted the reason nobody was commenting or discussing AI is because nobody at the event wants to see change.

“I came off stage and a woman approached me and said, ‘You don’t understand —in this industry, we make a lot of money and the first person who innovates forces everyone else to innovate, and we’re all friends here’,” Janssen recalls.

The woman also explained that the group consisted of senior executives and actuaries who specialize in analyzing financial risks and use statistical models to make predictions. Many of these leaders began their careers as actuaries (a role that AI is poised to disrupt significantly) and as a result, they were reluctant to discuss or embrace changes that could upend their industry and their own career paths.

This interaction, for Janssen, underscored a deeper issue.

It wasn’t just about AI — it was about an entrenched resistance to change. That reluctance is not unique to the insurance industry. Across Canada, Janssen has observed a striking trend where companies that are using AI are reluctant to admit it.

“What we’ve seen is that even when Canadian companies are using AI, they often don’t want to talk about it publicly,” she says. “That hesitancy can hold back the momentum needed for broader adoption and innovation.”

This silence often stems from fears about how AI will be perceived by customers, or concerns about data privacy.

However, Janssen argues that this secrecy stifles growth and undermines trust.

“One of the principles of responsible AI is transparency,” she says. “What we really need to do is figure out how Canada can win in AI, and I believe we win by carving out a niche where we’re the global leader of responsible AI.”

Part of the winning formula: openly sharing how AI improves processes and outcomes in order to demystify the technology and encourage others to explore its potential.
Resisting innovation is part of Canada’s problem

Janssen has seen this pattern play out across industries in Canada.

While companies often acknowledge the potential of AI, and many are already using it, there are many who also remain hesitant to adopt it openly or invest in transformative change.

Janssen points to several contributing factors, including prolonged decision-making cycles, fear of change, and structural complacency within certain industries.

“AI for the average person, is still a robot coming for your job, which that isn’t the case,” she says.

Recent statistics underscore the challenge: As of 2024, only 6.1% of Canadian businesses were using AI in producing goods and delivering services. And perhaps most surprising for those who follow tech, a whopping three quarters (74.2%) of businesses are not planning to use AI because they feel it’s not relevant to the goods produced or services delivered.

“AI is relevant to every business,” Janssen says. “There isn’t a business we have talked to or connected with where there aren’t relevant use cases that bring return on investment. It’s just a matter of businesses not being ready for it yet.”

An important data point to clarify is that this resistance isn’t universal.

In industries like information and cultural sectors, AI adoption is higher, with 24.1% of businesses already using generative AI and an additional 7.1% planning to adopt it.

However, broader uptake across sectors is needed for Canada to remain competitive.

One glaring example is the difference in sales cycles between Canada and the United States.

“The sales cycle in Canada on the services side of our business is 18 months long,” Janssen says. “In the U.S., it’s four months. That’s a massive difference.”

This isn’t just an operational inconvenience. It’s a critical barrier to growth.

The drawn-out timelines in Canada make it harder for companies to experiment, iterate, and scale AI projects. This is a stark contrast to the fast-paced decision-making culture in the U.S.

“Canadian companies often approach AI as if it’s a one-time, all-in commitment,” Janssen explains. “There’s a lot of fear and misunderstanding of what it can and can’t do. People look at AI as this big project that’s going to revolutionize their business when, in reality, it’s about integrating AI throughout existing processes.”

Nicole Janssen is CEO of AltaML. – Photo by Digital Journal

AltaML is growing into the U.S.

For AltaML, resistance combined with being a scaleup with experience and ambitious growth goals, means it’s now growing beyond Canada’s borders.

The company has completed more than 400 projects across industries, including public sector, energy, health, and agriculture, and it’s now expanding its operations into the U.S.

Beyond faster sales cycles, there are other challenges that set the U.S. apart as a necessary market for growth.

In Canada, industries with limited competition often lack the incentive to innovate.

“I think part of [the problem] is that many of our largest industries are monopolies, created by government funding and regulation,” Janssen says. “Monopolies don’t need to innovate.”

This lack of competition, combined with cultural risk aversion, has created a perfect storm of resistance in Canada’s innovation landscape.

The result? Companies like AltaML are increasingly drawn southward to find partners who are ready to act.

The economic imperative to embrace AI

The global race for AI dominance has accelerated, with recent developments demonstrating the high stakes for countries and companies alike.

China’s DeepSeek made headlines this week by open-sourcing a powerful AI model at a fraction of the cost of its competitors, shaking up financial markets and challenging the dominance of Western tech giants. This bold move showcases how aggressive adoption strategies can redefine industries almost overnight.

In the U.S., the Stargate Project — backed by OpenAI and Oracle — represents a $500-billion investment to cement American leadership in AI infrastructure, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company will invest $60 billion on AI in 2025 alone. And late last year, Alberta shared details about a massive data centre play to support AI growth.

For Canada, these global advancements should serve as a wake-up call.

Canada’s slower adoption of AI isn’t just a business hurdle — it reflects a broader economic challenge tied to staying competitive in the global economy.

As the global economy shifts toward technology-driven industries, Canada’s reliance on traditional sectors like energy and natural resources makes diversification critical.

As John Ruffolo, Co-Founder and Vice Chair of the Council of Canadian Innovators put it: “The new Cold War is a front based on technology.”

Ruffolo points out that today, technological superiority is the equivalent military superiority of past generations.

AI presents an opportunity to modernize Canadian industries and create new avenues for growth, but that requires a willingness to embrace change.

To move forward, Canada’s business leaders must take a proactive stance in embracing AI.

This means looking beyond fears of disruption and focusing on the long-term benefits of adopting cutting-edge tools. The opportunity to modernize industries and remain competitive globally is within reach — but only for those willing to take bold steps.

“We have an exceptional foundation right now in talent and research,” Janssen says in summary. “But we aren’t commercializing or adopting it, and if we don’t get to doing that, we will lose this advantage that we have.”

This article was created with the assistance of AI. Learn more about our AI ethics policy here.

Written By Chris Hogg
Chris is an award-winning entrepreneur who has worked in publishing, digital media, broadcasting, advertising, social media & marketing, data and analytics. Chris is a partner in the media company Digital Journal, content marketing and brand storytelling firm Digital Journal Group, and Canada's leading digital transformation and innovation event, the mesh conference. He covers innovation impact where technology intersections with business, media and marketing. Chris is a member of Digital Journal's Insight Forum.

White House urges TikTokers to apply for press passes

By AFP
January 28, 2025


White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt takes questions during the daily briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House - Copyright AFP ROBERTO SCHMIDT

Donald Trump’s new press secretary on Tuesday invited TikTokers and podcasters to apply for White House press passes, in an effort to reach beyond the mainstream media that the US president often slams.

In her first time at the White House podium, Karoline Leavitt said an additional seat for “new media voices” had been reserved at the front of the cramped briefing room.

Trump has repeatedly criticized traditional media as the “enemy of the people,” and he credits a series of podcast appearances for aiding his return to the White House.

“As the youngest press secretary in history, thanks to President Trump, I take great pride in opening up this room to new media voices,” the 27-year-old Leavitt told a packed briefing room.

“Whether you are a TikTok content creator, a blogger, a podcaster, if you are producing legitimate news content… you will be allowed to apply for press credentials to this White House,” she said.

The shake-up was more modest that some news organizations had feared, after the president’s son Donald Trump Jr. talked in November about “opening up” the press room.

The 49 seats in the room are allocated to a number of news organizations, including AFP, that are members of the White House Correspondents Association.

Reporters without seats are allowed to stand at the side if there is space — as they did for Leavitt’s packed-out debut on Tuesday.

The new press secretary also vowed to hold reporters accountable for what she said were “lies” about Trump.

“We know for a fact there have been lies that have been pushed by many legacy media outlets in this country about this president, about his family, and we will not accept that,” she said.

The briefing at the iconic White House podium was Leavitt’s first since Trump was inaugurated eight days ago. She has so far largely spoken to conservative television outlets including Fox News.

Trump sidestepped interviews with some major US TV networks during the election campaign, opting instead to speak to several largely right-wing podcasts including the hugely popular Joe Rogan Experience.

OpenAI tailors version of ChatGPT for US government


By AFP
January 28, 2025


ChatGPT Gov -- designed for use by the United States government -- builds on an 'enterprise' version of the artificial intelligence tool used by businesses - Copyright AFP/File SEBASTIEN BOZON

OpenAI on Tuesday launched a bespoke version of its ChatGPT artificial intelligence tool for use by the United States government.

Big money government contracts are often tech firm targets, and OpenAI already boasts some 90,000 users of ChatGPT across federal, state and local governments in the United States.

The new ChatGPT Gov version of OpenAI’s popular chatbot provides a tailored AI tool to assist the work of US government agencies and their employees.

“By making our products available to the US government, we aim to ensure AI serves the national interest and the public good, aligned with democratic values, while empowering policymakers to responsibly integrate these capabilities to deliver better services to the American people,” OpenAI said in an online post.

The cost of ChatGPT Gov, if any, was not disclosed.

ChatGPT Gov builds on an enterprise version of the chatbot designed for use by businesses and can run on Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, according to OpenAI.

“Self-hosting ChatGPT Gov enables agencies to more easily manage their own security, privacy, and compliance requirements,” OpenAI said.

The company believes the new offering will speed up authorization for OpenAI tools to be used to handle sensitive non-public data in government agencies, according to the post.

In his first full day in the White House, US President Donald Trump announced a major investment to build infrastructure for artificial intelligence led by Japanese giant SoftBank and OpenAI.

Trump said the venture, called Stargate, “will invest $500 billion, at least, in AI infrastructure in the United States.”