IBM has teamed up with a Montreal-based Institute for Data Valorization (IVADO) to jointly develop artificial intelligence (AI) products, with plans to add another 100 technology professionals to its innovation center. The innovation center, launched in 2016 for providing digital transformation services, will henceforth focus on AI and Salesforce expertise, the American technology giant stated in a press release. "Research in AI is quickly expanding worldwide – and particularly in Montréal – but AI is far from having reached its full potential in delivering concrete results for businesses," said Claude Guay, General Manager, IBM Services, Canada. "IBM's CIC in Montréal will focus on delivering value to its clients through applied AI and bringing real solutions to real problems." The new recruits the company is looking for will work as machine learning engineers, data scientists, full stack developers, or data engineers.

With Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis-led delegation in Canada, the government inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with their firms to give a boost to the development of artificial intelligence (AI) in the state. On Tuesday, Fadnavis and Quebec deputy prime minister Dominic Anglade held talks at Montreal in Canada about use of artificial intelligence in various sectors. "Artificial intelligence will not lead to loss of jobs, but will create more job opportunities," said Fadnavis, speaking at a seminar organised by the International Economic Forum of the Americas on administration and artificial intelligence. "The gap between the rich and poor will be bridged with resolution of many problems." According to the chief minister's office (CMO), as part of the MoU between FRQNT of Quebec government and the state government, an international study group will be set up to increase the use of AI in agriculture technology, soil management and pest control.

The Bank and IVADO will promote innovation in the financial services industry, work to increase networking between universities and the private sector in AI, and encourage philanthropic data analysis initiatives. National Bank will collaborate with IVADO partners like HEC Montréal's Tech3Lab and create targeted AI internships. "With National Bank signing on as a founding member, the IVADO will receive significant support in terms of research and the transfer of technology in the field of finance," said Valérie Bécaert, director of partnerships and knowledge mobilization at IVADO. "We're extremely pleased with this new collaboration which will no doubt give rise to several innovative development projects." The two organizations plan to encourage the sharing of best practices in data management, analysis, and governance with not-for-profit organizations.

Once limited to the realm of fiction, AI is now the technology shaping our world more than ever before. Montreal is at the center of this movement, with some saying it could become the Silicon Valley of AI. This may come as a surprise with all the other tech research and startup hubs out there. What does Montreal have that they don't? As it turns out, the largest concentration of independent AI researchers in the world.

All eyes are on Montreal these days as a hub for deep learning. "Clearly it's a place where everybody wants to be if we want to tap into that talent," says Nagraj Kashyap, corporate vice-president of Microsoft Ventures in San Francisco. Montreal's pre-eminence as a deep learning centre can largely be attributed to the efforts of Yoshua Bengio, considered to be one of the three "co-fathers" of deep learning technology. Bengio not only engaged in cutting-edge research at the Université de Montréal long before deep learning was considered viable; his work has spawned an ecosystem that many say is unrivalled in the artificial intelligence (AI) world. That ecosystem includes the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms (MILA) which has been funded by government and private sector parties, including Google and Microsoft, among other tech notables.

Google is doubling down in Canada's artificial intelligence scene. The search giant said Monday that it's creating a new AI research group in its Montreal office and will invest $4.5 million over three years in the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms, an AI research lab part of the University of Montreal. Google's goog new Montreal AI research outpost will be part of Google's Brain team, the search giant's company wide-AI research group headquartered in Mountain View, wrote Google Montreal head of engineering Shibl Mourad in a blog post. Google hired Hugo Larochelle, who was recently a top research scientist at Twitter twtr, to lead the new Montreal unit. Part of Google's investment will involve funding renowned AI expert Yoshua Bengio's research projects as head of the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms.