The Peak Daily

Ottawa’s high-speed rail project is exploring a route change that could add a Kingston stop — a move that might broaden support, but also complicate the line’s speed and politics. Plus, Google is reportedly investing $75M in indie studio A24 to build AI film tools, putting the “creative-first” brand in a tricky spot as Hollywood weighs cost savings against reputational risk and job losses.The Peak Daily is produced in partnership with reframevid.com

Canada is getting its first legal prediction markets app as Wealthsimple teams up with Kalshi, blurring the line between investing and gambling. Then, Apple warns iPhones could be headed toward the $2,000 mark as AI-fueled chip costs spike. Plus, in The Big Picture: the U.S. and Iran sign a deal to end the war, Empire doubles down on discount grocers, and Cohere locks in more Canadian compute from Bell.The Peak Daily is produced in partnership with reframevid.com

More Canadians are using GoFundMe to help pay for essentials like groceries, rent, and bills. Then, Ottawa introduces Bill C-37, a new First Nations clean water bill. Plus, in the Big Picture: SpaceX’s deal for AI coding startup Cursor, Gildan drops after a short-seller report, and Quebec reaches a French-language funding deal with three English universities.The Peak Daily is produced in partnership with reframevid.com

Canada’s growing reliance on U.S.-made AI tools comes into focus after Anthropic disables access to its newest models amid U.S. export controls and “jailbreak” allegations. Then, we look at why digital point-and-shoot cameras are making a surprising comeback as Gen Z chases Y2K-era vibes and more offline experiences. Plus Carney’s comments on CUSMA, a snag in U.S.-Iran talks, and Switzerland rejecting a population cap.The Peak Daily is produced in partnership with reframevid.com

Today on The Peak Daily, we dig into the nicotine pouch boom among young Canadians and why regulators are struggling to keep up. We also break down OSFI’s push for big banks to lend more to small businesses, plus the latest on CUSMA uncertainty, the Bank of Canada holding rates steady, and Ubisoft’s latest round of studio closures.The Peak Daily is produced in partnership with reframevid.com

Canada is getting closer to a nationwide under-16 social media ban, with Ottawa set to table new online harms legislation that would also regulate AI chatbots. Then, we unpack new research linking the iPhone’s arrival to falling birth rates, and what that says about modern relationships. Plus, in The Big Picture: Ottawa backs off streamer fees, a US judge strikes down the $100K H-1B fee, and airlines line up for federal loans as fuel costs soar.The Peak Daily is produced in partnership with reframevid.com

Today on The Peak Daily, we’re breaking down Air Canada’s big bet on premium flyers with a new fuel-sipping A321XLR — and what it signals about the future of air travel. Then, we head to Nova Scotia, where the province is launching a “seafood school” program to hook the next generation on fishery careers and shore up a key export industry.Plus, in The Big Picture: Ottawa rolls out a $2.3B national AI strategy, SpaceX tees up a record-setting IPO, and U.S. lawmakers move to rein in military action in Iran.The Peak Daily is produced in partnership with reframevid.com

Today on The Peak Daily, we dig into Ottawa’s plan to back Canadian AI startups with a new federal investment fund, and what it could mean for keeping high-potential founders building at home instead of heading south for capital. Then, we head to Vancouver, where a rare office-to-hotel conversion in the city’s downtown core aims to add much-needed rooms in one of Canada’s tightest hotel markets.The Peak Daily is produced in partnership with reframevid.com

To kick off the episode: Remote work was supposed to make jobs more accessible — but for entry-level workers, it might be doing the opposite. New research suggests remote roles are squeezing junior hiring more than AI (for now). Then: why Gen Z has turned sardines into the snack of the summer — and a surprisingly lucrative business. Plus, the Big Picture: Ottawa’s fighter jet rethink, a new BC Conservative leader, Alberta wildfires, and more.And we end off with an exclusive interview with Chad Koziel, Associate Vice President AI Product at TD. Check out our notes below:The Peak: Hey, Peak pals, we are joined today with Chad Koziel, who's the associate vice president of Layer Six Gen AI delivery at TD. And we're going to have a really interesting discussion today. There's a lot of talk about Gen AI and how transformative it's going to be, but not a lot of discussion around the actual practical applications of that at the organization level. So that's why I'm really excited to jump in with you today, Chad. Do you want to just take a second and introduce yourself?​Chad: Thanks and it's great to be on here, Brett. So I'm Chad Koziel. I build AI. That's what I do. I make it real. I put it in clients' hands and colleagues' hands. And my job is to do so in a way that they love, in a way that they want to engage with, they want to adopt, they want to play with and that ultimately drives a positive impact for them.​The Peak: That's awesome. And I imagine a lot of this is happening behind the scenes. So how is AI working at TD right now without clients even knowing that it's there?​Chad: So, if you're a TD client, you can expect today that if you call in with an issue, you get helped better, you get helped faster than ever before. You may or may not notice it on a call-by-call basis, but it's there. In the background and across TD, AI capabilities are being deployed to make everything simpler, to make everything faster and specifically to get information to people faster. So that concrete example I gave you, in the background, there's a tool, a virtual assistant that allows a frontline colleague to solve an extremely complex customer query in seconds, empowering them to help you in that moment. Whereas in the past, they might have put you on hold while they looked stuff up. They might instead have put you on hold and contacted one of their colleagues who could help them work through it before coming back to you. So we're seeing a 12% reduction in those types of things. And it's not just in our contact center. So we have these fit-to-purpose, fast, accurate virtual assistants deployed in TD wealth, in branches, in insurance and TD securities. All of these driving, perhaps imperceptible, perhaps perceptible, but nevertheless impactful improvements to the client experience.​The Peak: That's a really great case study of how generative AI is helping TD clients and as a TD client myself, that's really great to hear. There's a lot of excitement about this technology, but there are some fears as well about it. You know, Gen AI is here and it's brought a lot of concerns with it about how our lives and jobs are going to change. What do you tell someone who's more concerned than excited about the impact of generative AI?​Chad: What I described previously in contact centers is the tip of the iceberg. There's a lot that I have the privilege of having a front row seat to that I can't share publicly, but the impact is enormous, it's profound. And that's leading to companies and people in every sector, in every field to adopt AI, generative AI to improve the quality, speed and availability of service. So maybe, you know, in this conversation with this concerned person, I would then say, seek it out, play, toy with generative AI. Just as an example, like I've used it to dramatically change my reading habits, like in volume and complexity by feeding it things I liked, things I didn't and using Gen AI to take me off the beaten path into areas I may not have previously read from. Authors who are maybe terrific but didn't sell, geographies outside of a western-centric sort of award circuit. And that's a toy example, right? But this is the kind of thing somebody can do to gain some familiarity with it, maybe even comfort. At TD, we put trust at the center of our relationship with clients. And when we move forward with AI, we will do so responsibly, transparently, reliably, safely, all of those things. That's how I try to bring some of this comfort to somebody maybe a little concerned about generative AI.​The Peak: That's very helpful. And you mentioned it at the end there, but I would love to just dig into how TD is actually keeping AI safe and secure when handling clients' money and personal information.​Chad: That's a great question. First is we don't use AI to handle your money. So AI is probabilistic, it's guessing things and we don't guess where your money should go and frankly no algorithm at TD should do that. You decide where it goes. We might use AI, we will use AI to make it easier for you to do what you want to do with your money. And we should make it a lot easier for you. We will never do it for you. Now, the personal information angle though is pretty interesting. When TD's AI consumes your information, it's in a cloud vault in an area fully and completely controlled by TD that's not accessible to any of our outside partners. And that's not going to change. We are going to protect that information and the handling of that information in a way that preserves your trust. And related to that, like when we do go and use AI, we're going to try to build that in a way that's remarkably human. So as an example, ensuring that empathy, intuition, care are at the heart and frankly quantitatively evaluated so that we know, not just we think, we know that the experience we're giving you with AI is one that you can trust is doing that in a way that feels right to you. The last key point because it's an area of particular focus and one where we have a bunch of research is around trustworthy AI. So TD, we have an entire team of scientists dedicated to evaluating for privacy, security, fairness, accountability, explainability, and not just ensuring that those are all built into the models, to the AI that we release, but also to ensure that that is continuously monitored so that those AIs do not stray over time, giving us the confidence to put them into market and have them be in the hands of our customers and colleagues.​The Peak: That's really great to hear and very comforting. Now, we know that AI is going to change banking for Canadians, but what parts of the experience will always need a human touch even as this technology evolves so quickly?​Chad: So, a concrete example, let's call it the estates process. So you've just had a terrible loss in your family. And not only do you have a terrible loss, you're dealing with an incredibly complex situation, financially, legally, emotionally. I guarantee you you want somebody sitting across from you helping you through that. But what you want is for that person to be able to work through this quickly with you to not take days or weeks to sort through hundreds of pages of documents. You want them to be able to do that in minutes to give you that trusted advice right away and with their human touch, with empathy, with intuition. That's an example, but we can think of a bunch of similar sort of challenging events, right? Whether it's job loss, retirement planning, thinking of buying a home. You're always going to want a person there and what we feel is that that person will, however, ne...

Today on The Peak Daily, WestJet pushes to roll back Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations as the backlog of complaints keeps growing. Then, Spotify leans into the “clipping economy” with a new in-app tool that lets listeners cut and share podcast moments. Plus, the big picture: Lululemon settles its boardroom battle, Ottawa moves to diversify defence procurement, and Meta launches paid “Plus” tiers across its apps.The Peak Daily is produced in partnership with reframevid.com

Tim Hortons is changing course on temporary foreign workers and aiming to hire 10,000 Canadians as critics say the program has helped suppress wages and add pressure to housing and healthcare. Then, we look at new research showing how quickly open-source AI models’ safety guardrails can be removed through a technique called “obliteration,” raising fresh concerns about misuse. Plus, from Vancouver’s protests over AI data centres to the latest on Middle East diplomacy and Canada’s wildfire response.The Peak Daily is produced in partnership with reframevid.com

Today on The Peak Daily, we break down what it means when theme parks start using facial recognition and AI cameras, as Disney faces a lawsuit over privacy concerns. Then, we dig into why U.S. growers want to block Prince Edward Island potato imports over potato wart, and what a new ban could mean for Canada’s top export market. Plus, in the Big Picture: TD’s new agentic AI for mortgage reviews, Oura’s IPO filing, and a quick look at Canada’s summer job market.The Peak Daily is produced in partnership with reframevid.com