Canada’s three national AI institutes got a jolt of support this week for safety research and commercializing AI discoveries through the new federal AI strategy.
The news: The long-awaited AI strategy, which dropped yesterday, included a lot of commitments for Montréal’s Mila, Edmonton’s Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii), and Toronto’s Vector Institute. The feds pledged funding for roughly 70 more research appointments through the Canada CIFAR AI Chairs program; $50 million for the Canadian AI Safety Institute (CAISI); and $130 million for commercialization of AI research, which involves supporting founders-in-residence who are building startups on top of research ideas.
From the source: “Mila is really focused on the core of the entire AI ecosystem, which is the talent,” Mila CEO Valérie Pisano said in an interview with BetaKit on Friday. She said Mila wants to ensure “that we’re retaining talent here, that the talent has the resources to do the research…but more importantly, [that we’re creating] the kinds of innovations that will spur the social and economic impact that we’re looking for.”
Following the thread: Amid mixed reactions from Canadian tech leaders, other national AI hubs have welcomed the strategy’s direction. Amii CEO Cam Linke said in a statement that through previous government support his institute “has transformed its ability to scale” breakthroughs from the labs and generate impact.
Part of the commercialization strategy for all three AI hubs involves venture financing for spin-out startups, through the newly launched Venture Scientist Fund. In partnership with Inovia Capital, the national fund is aiming to raise $100 million USD ($125 million CAD) to back at least 55 “AI-native” startups incubated at any of the AI institutes.
Final thought: According to AI minister Evan Solomon, who spoke to reporters at Mila on Friday, the three national institutes will play a part in rolling out free AI literacy training for all Canadians that the government promised. Amii already has a literacy program that’s working with about 125,000 students, and Solomon said the government wants to build on that success and help develop the curriculum.
Feature image courtesy Claudia Grégoire.