Vector Institute (Canada)

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Vector Institute
Formation2017; 7 years ago (2017)
TypeIndependent, nonprofit artificial intelligence organization
PurposeResearch in machine learning
HeadquartersToronto, Ontario, Canada
Employees
714[1]
Websitewww.vectorinstitute.ai

The Vector Institute is a private, non-profit artificial intelligence research institute in Toronto focusing primarily on machine learning and deep learning research. As of 2023, it consists of 143 faculty members and affiliates — 38 of which are CIFAR AI chairs — 57 postdoctoral fellows, and 502 students.[2] Along with the University of Toronto, the Vector Institute is affiliated with faculty from universities across Ontario, as well as British Columbia and Nova Scotia.[2]

Along with Montreal's Mila and Alberta's Amii, the Vector Institute is a member of the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy.[3]

History[edit]

Vector was established by Brendan Frey, Geoffrey Hinton, Raquel Urtasun in 2017[4] with the objectives of retaining and recruiting researchers in Toronto and encouraging companies to establish labs in the city.[5]

On January 2, 2018, Garth Gibson became Vector's first president and CEO,[6] and in 2023, would be replaced by Tony Gaffney.[7] The institute was housed in the MaRS Discovery District[8] and, in 2024, moved to the Schwartz Reisman Innovation Center.[9]

Funding[edit]

At the end of its founding, the Vector Institute received a combined total of $200 million CAD from private and public sectors.[10] The sources of its private sector funding include, among others, Uber,[11] Google,[12] and Shopify.[13] In 2019, the Government of Ontario cut its funding of CIFAR and the Vector Institute by $24 million CAD.[14] As part of the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence strategy, the Vector Institute, Mila, and Amii received another $60 million CAD in 2021 from the Government of Canada.[15]

Operations[edit]

The institute supports foundational and applied AI research,[1] and mitigates brain drain in Canada.[16] Their research priorities are:[1]

One of the goals of the institute is to support AI adoption in industries. They have helped reduce energy consumption at Telus,[17] built recommendation systems with Wahi,[18] and partnered with Kids Help Phone to build tools that help guide councillors during conversations with children.[19] They have built open source tools to monitor clinical models in production.[20]

The institute has given out $2 million CAD in masters scholarships, valued at $17,500 each.[21]

Faculty[edit]

As of 2023, Vector's research is led by Chief Scientific Advisor Geoffrey Hinton, and Research Directors Daniel Roy and Graham Taylor.[22] Other faculty include, among many others, Alán Aspuru-Guzik, Brendan Frey, Gillian Hadfield, and Sheila McIlraith.[22]

Board of Directors[edit]

As of March 31, 2023, the Vector Institute's board of directors consists of:[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Vector Research". Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "Vector Annual Report 2022-23" (PDF). Vector Institute. 2023.
  3. ^ Kathleen Sandusky (27 April 2023). "Canada's AI leadership strengthened through new and renewed Canada CIFAR AI Chairs under the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy". Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  4. ^ Jennifer Robinson (March 30, 2017). " "Toronto's Vector Institute officially launched". University of Toronto Press. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  5. ^ Cade Metz (March 21, 2022). "Toronto, the Quietly Booming Tech Town". NYT. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  6. ^ Jessica Galang (September 26, 2017). "Vector Institute names Garth Gibson as CEO". Betakit. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  7. ^ Charles Mandel (January 4, 2023). "Vector Institute taps seasoned executive Tony Gaffney to lead AI hub for next five years". Betakit. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  8. ^ Kate McGillivray (March 29, 2017). "Canada 'lost the lead' on artificial intelligence. Here's how Toronto will get it back". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  9. ^ Sarah Law (March 25, 2019). "U of T gets $100M donation for innovation centre studying AI". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  10. ^ Denny Thomas (March 28, 2017). "Canadian government, businesses back $150 million artificial intelligence institute". Reuters. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  11. ^ Travis Kalanick (May 8, 2017). "Transforming transportation in Toronto". Uber. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  12. ^ Darrell Etherington (March 30, 2017). "Google bets on AI in Canada with Google Brain Toronto and Vector Institute investment". Techcrunch. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  13. ^ Jessica Galang (March 30, 2017). "Shopify, Google among 30 companies committing combined $80 million over 10 years to Vector Institute". BetaKit. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  14. ^ "Ontario government cuts $24 million in AI research funding". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. May 21, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  15. ^ "Government of Canada launches second phase of the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy". June 22, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  16. ^ "Garth Gibson: Celebrating Vector's First Year in the AI Ecosystem". Vector Institute. March 29, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  17. ^ Kathleen Sandusky (April 17, 2023). "Canada's three National AI Institutes advance AI solutions for energy and the environment". CIFAR. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  18. ^ "Wahi Launches First AI-Powered Realtor Recommendation System in Canada". Newswire. June 22, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  19. ^ Nicole Ireland (July 5, 2023). "Kids Help Phone seeking help from AI tech to meet demand for mental health support". Toronto Star. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  20. ^ Norm Tollinsky (November 1, 2022). "AI centres of excellence and companies collaborate on apps". Canadian Healthcare Technology. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  21. ^ Charlize Alcaraz (May 11, 2022). "Vector Institute awards nearly $2 million in scholarships for Ontario AI students". BetaKit. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  22. ^ a b "Vector Faculty". Retrieved December 30, 2023.

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