NVIDIA, the company behind the invention of the GPU, is opening an AI lab in Toronto.
NVIDIA first opened a Toronto office in 2015 through its acquisition of TransGaming. While the office currently has about 50 people, NVIDIA hopes to triple this number, the company said in a blog post.
The lab will be led by the University of Toronto’s Sanja Fidler, whose research interests include computer vision and deep learning. The company’s Toronto and Seattle research labs will be part of the 200-person NVIDIA Research team.
“The fundamental AI work being done in Toronto is further solidifying Canada’s place as a world-leader in the field. Our talent and innovation ecosystem make us an attractive place for companies, like NVIDIA, to grow and create well-paying jobs for Canadians,” said Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development. “Our government welcomes this investment and is proud to partner with NVIDIA as we continue advancing our machine learning knowledge.”
This lab is the latest effort from a string of high-profile international companies looking to take advantage of Canadian AI talent. Samsung recently announced that it would open an AI research centre in Toronto, while Google established its first Canadian DeepMind office in Edmonton.
Photo via Unsplash.
