It has impressive research bench strength. It has billions of federal dollars for the taking. ItB次元官网网址檚 kind of a nice place to live.
But when it comes to turning knowledge of artificial intelligence into companies, products and investment, Canada is lagging behind B次元官网网址� and, some experts argue, actively shooting itself in the foot.
Why give up all that brain power to Silicon Valley?
That was a major line of questioning as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke recently with tech journalists on a niche New York Times podcast.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e proud of CanadaB次元官网网址檚 early role in developing AI,B次元官网网址� Trudeau said on Hard Fork, noting that many breakthroughs have happened because Canadian scientists are well-funded.
In 2017, Canada became the first country to have a national AI strategy. It launched a second phase five years later, allocating $443 million to connect research capacity with programs aimed at enabling commercialization.
This yearB次元官网网址檚 federal budget included an additional $2.4-billion investment in AI. And the government has boasted that Canada has 10 per cent of B次元官网网址渢he worldB次元官网网址檚 top-tier AI researchers, the second most in the world.B次元官网网址�
Among them are two so-called godfathers of AI.
But Ottawa is B次元官网网址渇ighting to make sure we keep our skin in the game,B次元官网网址� Trudeau told the podcast hosts.
He made the pitch, saying Canada has many of the ingredients it needs: among other things, clean energy, a good quality of life for workers and government programs to encourage the sector.
In spite of that, Canada hasnB次元官网网址檛 always been B次元官网网址済reat at commercializing,B次元官网网址� Trudeau conceded.
More than that, Canadians have B次元官网网址渇allen far behind,B次元官网网址� argued Benjamin Bergen, president of the Council of Canadian Innovators, which represents the tech sector.
The government spent B次元官网网址渁 tremendous amount on the talent side of the equation,B次元官网网址� he said recently, but not on converting it B次元官网网址渋nto building companies.B次元官网网址�
Bergen said the government has B次元官网网址渋nstitutionalized the transfer of our AI intellectual property to foreign firms.B次元官网网址�
The governmentB次元官网网址檚 2022 strategy update promised that the countryB次元官网网址檚 three AI institutes are B次元官网网址渉elping to translate research in artificial intelligence into commercial applications and growing the capacity of businesses to adopt these new technologies.B次元官网网址�
But Bergen argued an AI strategy focused on commercialization must start with Canada owning its own IP. B次元官网网址淵ou cannot commercialize what you donB次元官网网址檛 own.B次元官网网址�
Intellectual property lawyer Jim Hinton has been trying to quantify that problem.
And the numbers show B次元官网网址渁 train wreck IB次元官网网址檝e been watching happen in slow motion,B次元官网网址� he said.
About three-quarters of patents produced by researchers who work for TorontoB次元官网网址檚 Vector Institute and MontrealB次元官网网址檚 Mila leave the country, and most of these are in the hands of Big Tech, HintonB次元官网网址檚 research has found.
Another 18 per cent of the 244 patents he tracked B次元官网网址� 198 from Vector and 46 from Mila B次元官网网址� are now owned by North American academic institutions.
Just seven per cent are held in the Canadian private sector.
Of the foreign-owned patents, the largest number, 65, went to Uber, while 35 landed with the Walt Disney Company. Nvidia, which recently displaced Microsoft as the worldB次元官网网址檚 most valuable company, got 34.
IBM ended up with 15 and Google with 12. A handful of the patents were co-owned.
Foreign companies benefit from CanadaB次元官网网址檚 public funding, Hinton argued, and there are B次元官网网址渘o guardrails put on the ability for these foreign companies to basically pillage CanadaB次元官网网址檚 really good AI invention.B次元官网网址�
Researchers can work at the AI institutes and foreign tech companies at the same time, Hinton said, charging that this is what allows the tech giants to take advantage.
The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, which co-ordinates the governmentB次元官网网址檚 AI strategy, pushed back strongly on that assertion.
Executive director Elissa Strome said a B次元官网网址渟mall number of our researchersB次元官网网址� have part-time employment in the private sector.
B次元官网网址淭hose private-sector organizations own the rights to the IP that is generated by those researchers,B次元官网网址� she said, but only when theyB次元官网网址檙e on the clock for those companies.
Strome said itB次元官网网址檚 long-standing practice in Canadian research B次元官网网址渢hat there are relationships around contract research with industry,B次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址渁 really strong firewallB次元官网网址� is in place between IP generated via public funds at the AI institutes and that which is generated through private funds.
She said HintonB次元官网网址檚 statistic on patents was inaccurate, but did not provide data to refute his findings.
She also argued that patents are not a good measure of commercialization, and B次元官网网址渋tB次元官网网址檚 the people that weB次元官网网址檙e training in the AI ecosystem that actually hold the greatest value in AI, not patents.B次元官网网址�
When it comes to sponsorship agreements at TorontoB次元官网网址檚 Vector, any IP created at the institute B次元官网网址渂elongs to Vector,B次元官网网址� a spokesperson said, adding it is not the primary employer for most of its researchers.
If academics donB次元官网网址檛 have an opportunity to work for companies, theyB次元官网网址檙e more likely to leave altogether, MontrealB次元官网网址檚 Mila said in a statement. It said the three institutes have turned around a B次元官网网址渕assive brain drain in AI in CanadaB次元官网网址� that existed prior to 2017.
The multi-billion-dollar investment in this yearB次元官网网址檚 budget seeks to further protect against that brain drain by beefing up Canadian infrastructure and computing power.
The envelope includes a B次元官网网址渞elatively smallB次元官网网址� amount of money to help Canadian companies scale up, noted Paul Samson, president of the Centre for International Governance Innovation.
Overall, the government is B次元官网网址渄oing the right thingB次元官网网址� by ensuring thatB次元官网网址檚 part of the equation, he said.
But people in the tech sector are skeptical. Bergen said companies were given little time to provide input.
B次元官网网址淭he government already had a top-down strategy that it wanted to implement B次元官网网址� and didnB次元官网网址檛 really care what CEOs and leaders of domestic firms were actually needing in order to be successful,B次元官网网址� he said.
Nicole Janssen, co-CEO of AI company AltaML, raised the concern that the Canadian government might end up simply throwing money at American firms to move north.
B次元官网网址淲hat IB次元官网网址檓 trying to figure out is how the government thinks theyB次元官网网址檙e going to spend $2 billion on building computers without just handing that $2 billion to Microsoft,B次元官网网址� Janssen said.
The budget said the money would go towards both access to computational power and developing AI infrastructure that is Canadian-owned and located in Canada.
A spokesperson for Industry Minister Fran莽ois-Philippe Champagne said more details would be provided in the coming weeks.
Companies like Microsoft and Nvidia are already looking to Canada as a place to build computing infrastructure, Janssen said, due to factors like climate and relative political stability.
B次元官网网址淲e donB次元官网网址檛 need to do anything to attract them.B次元官网网址�
A better approach, Janssen said, would see the government helping Canadian firms adopt AI more quickly B次元官网网址� a gap her company has been trying to help fill.
It takes AltaML an average of 18 months to start building an AI product in Canada, she said, compared to four months in the United States.
B次元官网网址淲e definitely do not have the ecosystem of companies that you would expect for the amount of talent that we have,B次元官网网址� she said.
ThereB次元官网网址檚 real clout at CanadaB次元官网网址檚 AI institutes, with veterans Yoshua Bengio and Geoffrey Hinton heading up Mila and Vector, respectively.
They and other elite researchers have B次元官网网址渁ttracted students from all over the world to come study under them,B次元官网网址� said Janssen, and thatB次元官网网址檚 a big advantage for Canada, especially if it wants, as Trudeau said on the podcast, to lead in developing a more democratic AI.
The prime minister said one of his biggest preoccupations is maximizing B次元官网网址渢he chance that it actually leads to better outcomes and better lives for everyoneB次元官网网址� instead of only benefiting those B次元官网网址渨ith the deepest pockets.B次元官网网址�
Canada could be a leader in responsible AI, Janssen said.
B次元官网网址淭hat is a title that is up for grabs,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淎nd no one has grabbed it yet.B次元官网网址�
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