Canada wants to be a leader in AI research while the US is poised to slash funding

Publicly funded and private technology ventures are tensing in anticipation of harsh budget cuts to research and H-1B visa restrictions. The Canadian government, joined by more than two dozen private institutions such as Google and Air Canada, will invest more than $150 million to create an AI research center within the University of Toronto, named the Vector Institute. Geoffrey Hinton, perhaps Canada's most famous AI researcher and co-author of the 1986 Nature paper that made modern deep learning possible, will serve as chief scientist for the center. Canada will contribute $50 million over five years, part of the $125 million Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy included in the country's budget that passed last week. Big tech names like Google and Nvidia are each contributing $5 million per year, while the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (not Facebook itself) is committed to $20,000 annually.