Upper Bound hails talent acquisition, looks to commercialization

At the fifth annual Upper Bound conference, the Alberta Machine Learning Institute celebrated the completion of a $30-million recruitment campaign to bring top AI researchers to the University of Alberta. "By attracting the world's brightest minds in AI to work at the intersections of AI and science, (our partners) are ensuring that Canadian innovation is central to solving the world's toughest problems," Evan Solomon, the federal minister of artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure, said in a release. Solomon was joined by Amii CEO Cam Linke; Elissa Strome, executive director of the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy at CIFAR; and Matina Kalcounis-Rueppell, dean and vice-provost for the U of A's College of Natural & Applied Sciences at the May 21 announcement.

The conference — which drew thousands of researchers, investors, entrepreneurs, students, and others to the Edmonton Convention Centre this week — also saw a federal announcement of $6.8 million for AI innovation and commercialization as part of the Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative. Of that, $3 million went to the U of A to advance its Canadian AI Compute Vault, which aims to build out infrastructure to strengthen Canada's tech sovereignty. The remaining $3.8 million was split among four companies: Darkhorse Emergency, NTWIST, Vertical City, and Localintel.

Over on the provincial side, Technology and Innovation Minister Nate Glubish said his government will spend $10 million to improve healthcare procurement over the next three years in partnership with Amii through the Health Innovation Lab. The investment could unlock opportunities for small- and medium-sized enterprises in government contracts as the province funds up to 12 AI-powered medical projects per year, Glubish said on May 20. The conference concludes on May 22 with a debate on whether a machine could be a person. Tackling that question will be Amii's chief scientific officer, Rich Sutton; philosopher Geoffrey Rockwell; Zhijing Jin of EuroSafeAI; and Katrina Ingram of Ethically Aligned AI.