Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the state may play a larger role in creating domestic “champions” after the Canadian government’s $1.6-billion investment in Toronto-based frontier AI developer Cohere. At the Canadian Club of Ottawa on Monday evening, Champagne said Canada taking equity stakes in general-purpose technology companies is “strategic,” and made clear the Cohere deal is an example the country is open to replicating. In a fireside chat with Bloomberg’s Brian Platt during a speaking tour to promote the 2026 federal budget, set to be tabled on Thursday, Champagne said Cohere is “a poster child of what you want to do,” noting other countries have supported their own AI champions, and said he sees the state more involved because in key industries with strategic value, scale matters. Champagne echoed AI minister Evan Solomon, who told BetaKit the Canadian Tech Growth Fund announced in Canada’s refreshed AI strategy will take equity positions in small and medium-sized companies. The federal government has also teed up a $25-billion sovereign wealth fund set to take an equity stake in Canadian projects and companies alongside the private sector. Reaction to the Cohere investment has been mixed, with some industry experts questioning whether the government should pick winners and the opaque deal terms, while former Research in Motion co-CEO Jim Balsillie argued it undermines the imperative for strategic government investments.