The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday, Oct. 15, edition that Ottawa has signed a non-binding agreement with the United Arab Emirates to explore investment opportunities in artificial intelligence, aiming to attract capital for building data centres in Canada. The Globe's Joe Castaldo writes that Federal AI Minister Evan Solomon signed the memorandum with UAE's Minister of Investment, Mohamed Hassan Alsuwaidi, in Abu Dhabi. Canada is seeking to diversify trade amid tensions with the U.S. Mr. Solomon met with a UAE delegation in Ottawa in June, and UAE representatives participated in last month's All In AI conference in Montreal. The UAE has become a key player in AI, naming its first minister of AI in 2017 and investing billions through its sovereign wealth funds in the infrastructure needed for AI models and applications. Emirati fund MGX joined with Nvidia in May to create Europe's largest data-centre campus in France. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced a $40-billion (U.S.) UAE investment in Italy this year, focusing on AI, data centres and renewable energy. Mr. Solomon highlighted MGX, G42, and sovereign wealth funds Mubadala and ADQ as interested in investments in Canada or co-investing.