AI on the Horizon: November 13, 2025

Canada’s latest AI news on the economy, society, and policy. In this issue, we explore the potential opportunities and challenges of AI in innovative processes for logistics, healthcare, and media. LLMs are not the only thing changing the world of work, as a growing number of industry-specific applications are pushing the envelope. Copyright, cold weather, and clinical efficacy pose significant obstacles to the development of innovative AI applications beyond vibe coding and word smithing.

Media and Film

If all the world’s a stage, then generative AI is taking its talents straight to Hollywood. Copyright, ownership, and fair use continue to be at the centre of industry adoption, and can sometimes hurt more than help brands and marketing. OpenAI’s newest iteration of SORA, is democratizing the ability to create visually striking content at the press of a button. However, mounting legal issues and opposition to the recreation of intellectual property, as well as actors and events, leave OpenAI’s visual generation tool in legal limbo.

London-based Wonder Studios has raised $12 million USD in an attempt to bring AI-generated content to Hollywood, hot on the heels of Netflix going “all in” on generative AI. In Canada, Toronto-based Moonvalley raised $84 million USD in a seed extension round to help scale up. A key difference between them and the rest? Moonvalley has trained on legally cleared content, with its CEO, Naeem Talukdar, attempting to “prove you don’t have to choose between powerful technology and responsible development.”

In Canada, AI-generated art still has no authorship precedence, so who watches the Watchmen? The federal government has provided open consultations for AI copyright, and co-authorship of human and AI outputs are still being challenged in Federal courts. Bill C-27 the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA), faced significant criticism and has not been reintroduced since Parliament was prorogued in early 2025.

Transportation and Logistics

Since the onset of generative AI models, planes, trains, and automobiles are leveraging these models to improve navigation, services, and logistics. Canada’s Waabi is changing the game when it comes to autonomous driving. Instead of using real-time driving data, it simulates driving data for its AI systems, enabling them to train their autonomous systems to learn and adapt to exponentially more scenarios than conventional, physically generated driving footage. Regulatory hurdles stand in the way of Canadian road testing, with limited access to driverless roads for testing. Waabi pilot tests were moved to Aurora in Texas, which has already developed over 1000 kilometres of driverless roads. Ontario has announced its commercial truck pilot at the end of Summer 2025, enabling the trial to begin as early as 2026. Considering that ice, snow, and low visibility are all critical factors on Canada’s roads, ports, and railways, Waabi will need to have its snow tires on before piloting domestically.

Speaking of ports, UBC researchers have developed a method that enables marine port authorities to more effectively manage scheduling, traffic, and energy consumption, surpassing conventional practices. AI is already being deployed to respond to trade disruptions, optimize routes, and plan maintenance at some of Canada’s busiest trade points, including Montreal and Pearson Airport. Pearson Airport utilizes AI systems to manage luggage congestion, optimizes gate routing, and employs digital twins to simulate and proactively address safety and security challenges.

Health Sciences

Health science innovation is being catalyzed by the improved calculus and pattern recognition capabilities of AI models, which are increasing the pace of drug discovery. Its most recent use in analyzing patient data in COVID-19 vaccine trials drastically shortened the review time.

Canadian firms like Variational AI (which recently partnered with established pharmaceutical giant Merck) are using AI to help discover new drugs, which may result in increased productivity and innovation, helping expedite treatment solutions. This is complemented by the health innovation ecosystems at McMaster and Waterloo University, which are building portfolios of firms using AI in drug discovery applications. However, AI isn’t just limited to drug discovery; preliminary research indicates that the pharmaceutical and medical technology industries can benefit from integrating AI agents to augment over 80 per cent of early research and development, regulatory, and quality assessment workflows.

On the Horizon: AI’s Next Steps

Remember when we all thought truck drivers would be the first ones replaced by AI? Turns out we are still wrong. And while there are relatively benign applications of AI (such as this Canadian AI hoax band), AI is showing its chops to disrupt innovative and creative industries. With no law or legislation to watch the Watchmen, we hope life does not, in fact, mimic art.

Read more about our research on the Productivity Potential of Automation Technologies.