New Confidential AI solution empowers Canadian organizations to unlock secure AI at scale with cryptographic proof of protection on sovereign infrastructure

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 16, 2026 /CNW/ - TELUS and Fortanix announced a new Confidential AI solution – built on NVIDIA – that enables organizations to train and deploy AI on their most sensitive data with cryptographic proof that it remains securely within Canadian jurisdiction.

Confidential AI applies advanced encryption technology – called Confidential Computing – specifically to protect AI workloads, maintaining encryption of sensitive data even while being actively processed by the AI system. Developed jointly by TELUS and Fortanix, a leader in confidential computing security, leveraging state-of-the-art NVIDIA infrastructure at the TELUS Sovereign AI Factory, the new solution uses cryptographic attestation and secure key releases to establish a verifiable chain of trust. This ensures proprietary models, sensitive data and agent credentials remain encrypted throughout training, fine-tuning and inference.

"TELUS has built Canada's first fully Sovereign AI infrastructure so that researchers, startups, enterprises and public institutions no longer have to choose between protecting their data and unlocking the transformative benefits of AI," said Hesham Fahmy, Chief Information Officer, TELUS. "This latest innovation with Fortanix and NVIDIA adds a critical, final security layer to protect data while it is actively being processed. Now, regulated organizations can deploy AI even on their most sensitive workloads, with auditable proof of protection, so they can accelerate innovation confidently without compromising their control, privacy and compliance."

This solution, announced at NVIDIA GTC 2026 in San Jose, is particularly critical for organizations in healthcare, finance, government, and other regulated sectors, where the challenges of deploying AI and risking sensitive data exposure during processing can hamper innovation. The confidential AI solution creates an auditable, verifiable record that the environment is encrypted throughout the entire AI lifecycle.

"Trust is not implicit – it must be proven," said Anuj Jaiswal, Chief Product & Strategy Officer, Fortanix. "With verified attestation and attestation-gated secure key release, we ensure that models, data and agents are only accessible inside approved confidential environments. By combining this with TELUS' sovereign infrastructure, organizations can deploy AI on their most sensitive data with cryptographic proof of protection, all on Canadian soil."

Before any sensitive data is decrypted, the Confidential AI solution performs a cryptographic verification of the trusted execution environment using NVIDIA Confidential Computing attestation services to confirm the hardware is genuine and secure. Encryption keys are released only when this verification succeeds. If the security check fails, the data remains locked. This approach provides the gates behind which sensitive data remains protected and inaccessible throughout the entire AI development and deployment process.

The joint Confidential AI solution will be available through the TELUS Sovereign AI Factory on NVIDIA AI infrastructure, with Fortanix providing verified attestation and attestation-gated secure key release. To learn more, visit telus.com/aifactory

About TELUS

TELUS (TSX:T, NYSE:TU) is a world-leading communications technology company operating in more than 45 countries and generating over $20 billion in annual revenue with more than 21 million customer connections through our advanced suite of broadband services for consumers, businesses and the public sector. We are committed to leveraging our technology to enable remarkable human outcomes. TELUS is passionate about putting our customers and communities first, leading the way globally in client service excellence and social capitalism. TELUS Health is enhancing more than 161 million lives across 200 countries and territories through innovative preventive medicine and well-being technologies. TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods utilizes digital technologies and data insights to optimize the connection between producers and consumers. TELUS Digital specializes in digital customer experiences and future-focused digital transformations that deliver value for their global clients. Guided by our enduring 'give where we live' philosophy, TELUS continues to invest in initiatives that support education, health and community well-being. In 2023, we launched the TELUS Student Bursary, which strives to ensure that every young person in Canada who wants a postsecondary education has the opportunity to pursue one. To date, the program has distributed over $6 million in bursaries to 2,000 students and counting. Since 2000, TELUS, our team members and retirees have contributed $1.85 billion in cash, in-kind contributions, time and programs, including 2.5 million days of service--earning TELUS the distinction of the world's most giving company.

For more information, visit telus.com or follow @Darren_Entwistle on Instagram.

About Fortanix

Fortanix is the global leader in data and AI security and a pioneer of Confidential Computing, delivering a unified platform to protect sensitive data, AI models, and applications across on-premises and multi-cloud environments--at rest, in transit, and in use. Built on hardware-enforced security, Fortanix enables workloads to run in tamper-proof, isolated enclaves, protecting against data leakage, model extraction, and unauthorized access, even from privileged insiders.

As enterprises scale modern AI factories, Fortanix provides a Confidential AI foundation built on attestation-based trust, secure key release, and zero-trust enforcement. This ensures AI systems remain verifiable, auditable, and trustworthy--while enabling crypto agility and long-term resilience through post-quantum cryptography (PQC).

Trusted by leading enterprises and sovereign entities in highly regulated industries and powered by an industry-standard approach to Confidential Computing supported by leading technology providers, including Intel and Microsoft, Fortanix enables organizations to safely use sensitive data and drive AI adoption with confidence. For more information, visit www.fortanix.com

Media Contacts

TELUS:

Tricia Lo

TELUS Media Relations

tricia.lo@telus.com

FORTANIX:

Anthony Lam

BOCA Communications for Fortanix

anthony@bocacommunications.com

415-205-5651

SOURCE TELUS Communications Inc.

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TELUS and Fortanix partner to bring Confidential AI to Canada, built on NVIDIA Confidential Computing