We already knew that the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, would be in Montreal on Monday. We now know that he and his economic delegation will stop more precisely in the offices of Mila Montreal, an artificial intelligence research center, to discuss the role of AI in health and the environment, then to tighten the pliers at the Montreal researcher Yoshua Bengio.
The Prime Minister of Canada and his Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, will also participate in this visit, learned The duty. Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck will also be in the group. In addition to the meeting between these dignitaries and Yoshua Bengio, whose international reputation is second to none, the event will allow German business people who have come to Canada with Chancellor Scholz to learn a little more about the technology developed in Montreal.
The fact that Mila Montreal is closely interested in economic, ethical and social issues through the lens of artificial intelligence is what would have attracted the German delegation. The role of AI in medical research, including how it can help accelerate the development of cutting-edge drugs to target otherwise difficult-to-treat diseases, is one of the hot topics for Mila researchers right now. .
The role that this technology can play in strengthening supply chains and optimizing energy management will also be part of the discussions. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced Germany to respond by cutting off its supply of Russian oil, forcing it to find other solutions. AI could be one of them.
In addition to Mr. Bengio, researcher David Rolnick will discuss the impact that computer technologies such as artificial intelligence can have on the environment and on society.
Good news
Some announcements will be made by representatives of the Montreal artificial intelligence sector on the sidelines of this visit, we also learned. The leaders of the Scale AI supercluster will take the opportunity to unveil a new round of financing of $50 million, which will be used to finance a dozen new projects.
Funded by the governments of Quebec and Canada, Scale AI’s mandate is to develop and support technology integration projects in the business sector, particularly in supply chains.
Scale AI was created at the initiative of Ottawa a few years ago, but its role, like that of the other “industrial superclusters” that emerged at the same time, had become uncertain in recent months. Until the minister responsible for the supercluster file, François-Philippe Champagne, breathed new energy into these projects at the end of June.
Mr. Champagne took the opportunity to rename them “global innovation clusters” and to reiterate their role in the creation of new large-scale companies to be used to develop Canadian expertise in growth sectors.