Already parents of four daughters, the big boss of Google’s Montreal laboratory in artificial intelligence, Hugo Larochelle, and his wife Angèle Saint-Pierre have found another way to combine their expertise: a donation of 1 million to the University of Montreal, for an annual scholarship on artificial intelligence at the service of environmental protection.
Mr. Larochelle obtained a doctorate in computer science in 2009, and Mr.me Saint-Pierre, a master’s degree in animal biology at UdM. She now devotes herself to the couple’s four daughters, aged 7 to 14, while Mr. Larochelle is director of Google Brain in Montreal, a research laboratory opened in 2016 specializing in deep learning. He is also an assistant professor at the University of Montreal.
“The environment is something that is close to our hearts, we are campaigning for that, explains Mme Saint-Pierre in interview. We decided to unite our two domains to make a difference. »
PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Daniel Jutras, Rector of the Université de Montréal, Hugo Larochelle, Yoshua Bengio, Full Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Operational Research, Angèle St-Pierre and Frédéric Bouchard, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences
The official announcement of this donation, and of the annual scholarship of $40,000 which will be associated with it, was made on Tuesday evening at the premises of the university. For Mr. Larochelle, it was about returning the favor to the establishment that kick-started a career that made him a world authority on artificial intelligence.
“I realize the privilege of my financial situation which is very much due to the fact that I was at UdM in the good years, when AI really flourished and became a favorite field. »
From Twitter to Google
Fresh out of university, Mr. Larochelle co-founded a company aimed at simplifying the implementation of AI in companies, Whetlab, sold in 2015 to Twitter. He worked until November 2016 in the social network teams as a researcher before being drafted by Google. In parallel, from 2011 to 2020, he taught at the University of Sherbrooke.
“These are jobs that pay well,” simply summarizes Mr. Larochelle. Without fanfare, the couple regularly supports many causes, including Centraide and, in 2019, made a donation to the computer department of the University of Sherbrooke. He hopes this latest donation will encourage other philanthropists.
We liked the idea of making a more significant gesture to inspire other people. Protecting the environment will be a challenge to which technological developments will contribute.
Hugo Larochelle, artificial intelligence researcher
As parents, underline the two donors, this gesture helps to make their children aware of the importance of this cause. “Making donations, opening up about the problems of what is happening in the environment, it is important”, underlines Mme Saint Pierre.
The $40,000 annual scholarship will be offered to one or two students per year, from the expected returns of the $1 million donation, who will pursue a doctorate in machine learning related to themes such as combating climate change or the decline of the biodiversity. The choice of the conditions for awarding this scholarship was made following discussions between the couple and the university, specifies Mr. Larochelle.
“When we approached them to make a philanthropic gesture, we had certain ideas, but we were aware that it had to be done in partnership with the university, he adds. It was good, in the end, because it fits into what the university wanted to do in this field. »