Montreal's fledgling AI community foresees billion dollar industry on horizon

The light bulb flickers inside the old elevator that creaks as it takes you to the eighth floor of the 1960s-era building, tucked away in a corner of Mile End that was Montreal's garment industry a half century ago. Walk down the dank corridor and into the office of Landr's. The contrast is striking: White, shiny and minimalist, the space embodies the new economy. Its 70 employees are young, educated and casually dressed. The juxtaposition of the office space housing the four-year-old audio technology firm inside the aging building is an easy metaphor for how the Quebec government hopes to inject new life into its economy by kick-starting the artificial intelligence (AI) industry.