It has impressive research bench strength. It has billions of federal dollars for the taking. It含羞草研究社檚 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 含羞草研究社� 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.
含羞草研究社淲e含羞草研究社檙e proud of Canada含羞草研究社檚 early role in developing AI,含羞草研究社� 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 year含羞草研究社檚 federal budget included an additional $2.4-billion investment in AI. And the government has boasted that Canada has 10 per cent of 含羞草研究社渢he world含羞草研究社檚 top-tier AI researchers, the second most in the world.含羞草研究社�
Among them are two so-called godfathers of AI.
But Ottawa is 含羞草研究社渇ighting to make sure we keep our skin in the game,含羞草研究社� 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 hasn含羞草研究社檛 always been 含羞草研究社済reat at commercializing,含羞草研究社� Trudeau conceded.
More than that, Canadians have 含羞草研究社渇allen far behind,含羞草研究社� argued Benjamin Bergen, president of the Council of Canadian Innovators, which represents the tech sector.
The government spent 含羞草研究社渁 tremendous amount on the talent side of the equation,含羞草研究社� he said recently, but not on converting it 含羞草研究社渋nto building companies.含羞草研究社�
Bergen said the government has 含羞草研究社渋nstitutionalized the transfer of our AI intellectual property to foreign firms.含羞草研究社�
The government含羞草研究社檚 2022 strategy update promised that the country含羞草研究社檚 three AI institutes are 含羞草研究社渉elping to translate research in artificial intelligence into commercial applications and growing the capacity of businesses to adopt these new technologies.含羞草研究社�
But Bergen argued an AI strategy focused on commercialization must start with Canada owning its own IP. 含羞草研究社淵ou cannot commercialize what you don含羞草研究社檛 own.含羞草研究社�
Intellectual property lawyer Jim Hinton has been trying to quantify that problem.
And the numbers show 含羞草研究社渁 train wreck I含羞草研究社檝e been watching happen in slow motion,含羞草研究社� he said.
About three-quarters of patents produced by researchers who work for Toronto含羞草研究社檚 Vector Institute and Montreal含羞草研究社檚 Mila leave the country, and most of these are in the hands of Big Tech, Hinton含羞草研究社檚 research has found.
Another 18 per cent of the 244 patents he tracked 含羞草研究社� 198 from Vector and 46 from Mila 含羞草研究社� 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 world含羞草研究社檚 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 Canada含羞草研究社檚 public funding, Hinton argued, and there are 含羞草研究社渘o guardrails put on the ability for these foreign companies to basically pillage Canada含羞草研究社檚 really good AI invention.含羞草研究社�
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 government含羞草研究社檚 AI strategy, pushed back strongly on that assertion.
Executive director Elissa Strome said a 含羞草研究社渟mall number of our researchers含羞草研究社� have part-time employment in the private sector.
含羞草研究社淭hose private-sector organizations own the rights to the IP that is generated by those researchers,含羞草研究社� she said, but only when they含羞草研究社檙e on the clock for those companies.
Strome said it含羞草研究社檚 long-standing practice in Canadian research 含羞草研究社渢hat there are relationships around contract research with industry,含羞草研究社� and 含羞草研究社渁 really strong firewall含羞草研究社� is in place between IP generated via public funds at the AI institutes and that which is generated through private funds.
She said Hinton含羞草研究社檚 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 含羞草研究社渋t含羞草研究社檚 the people that we含羞草研究社檙e training in the AI ecosystem that actually hold the greatest value in AI, not patents.含羞草研究社�
When it comes to sponsorship agreements at Toronto含羞草研究社檚 Vector, any IP created at the institute 含羞草研究社渂elongs to Vector,含羞草研究社� a spokesperson said, adding it is not the primary employer for most of its researchers.
If academics don含羞草研究社檛 have an opportunity to work for companies, they含羞草研究社檙e more likely to leave altogether, Montreal含羞草研究社檚 Mila said in a statement. It said the three institutes have turned around a 含羞草研究社渕assive brain drain in AI in Canada含羞草研究社� that existed prior to 2017.
The multi-billion-dollar investment in this year含羞草研究社檚 budget seeks to further protect against that brain drain by beefing up Canadian infrastructure and computing power.
The envelope includes a 含羞草研究社渞elatively small含羞草研究社� amount of money to help Canadian companies scale up, noted Paul Samson, president of the Centre for International Governance Innovation.
Overall, the government is 含羞草研究社渄oing the right thing含羞草研究社� by ensuring that含羞草研究社檚 part of the equation, he said.
But people in the tech sector are skeptical. Bergen said companies were given little time to provide input.
含羞草研究社淭he government already had a top-down strategy that it wanted to implement 含羞草研究社� and didn含羞草研究社檛 really care what CEOs and leaders of domestic firms were actually needing in order to be successful,含羞草研究社� 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.
含羞草研究社淲hat I含羞草研究社檓 trying to figure out is how the government thinks they含羞草研究社檙e going to spend $2 billion on building computers without just handing that $2 billion to Microsoft,含羞草研究社� 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.
含羞草研究社淲e don含羞草研究社檛 need to do anything to attract them.含羞草研究社�
A better approach, Janssen said, would see the government helping Canadian firms adopt AI more quickly 含羞草研究社� 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.
含羞草研究社淲e definitely do not have the ecosystem of companies that you would expect for the amount of talent that we have,含羞草研究社� she said.
There含羞草研究社檚 real clout at Canada含羞草研究社檚 AI institutes, with veterans Yoshua Bengio and Geoffrey Hinton heading up Mila and Vector, respectively.
They and other elite researchers have 含羞草研究社渁ttracted students from all over the world to come study under them,含羞草研究社� said Janssen, and that含羞草研究社檚 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 含羞草研究社渢he chance that it actually leads to better outcomes and better lives for everyone含羞草研究社� instead of only benefiting those 含羞草研究社渨ith the deepest pockets.含羞草研究社�
Canada could be a leader in responsible AI, Janssen said.
含羞草研究社淭hat is a title that is up for grabs,含羞草研究社� she said. 含羞草研究社淎nd no one has grabbed it yet.含羞草研究社�
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