Alberta AI research institute receives $5M grant from Google

Google is investing in artificial intelligence and machine learning in Edmonton and across Canada.

The search engine company’s charitable arm — Google.org — announced a $5 million grant for the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii). The goal is to boost AI skills for Canadian post-secondary students and bolster the country’s AI-driven economy.

The announcement was made at Upper Bound, an artificial intelligence conference being held in Alberta’s capital this week.

Amii will use the funding to establish a national consortium of 25 post-secondary institutions across Canada – reaching an estimated 125,000 students – that will develop AI curriculum materials and integrate them into existing courses.

“This both makes them more hireable as they graduate and also gives them a foundation, as things continue to grow and change, for them to have that literacy that they need to be able to continue to evolve their careers,” said Cam Linke, the CEO of Amii.

“So it’s not just us coming in and saying, ‘you should do this.’ But ‘what do you need? What are you hearing from the industry? What’s the impact that you need to have that you need AI to have in your area?’ And to be able to co-collaborate and deliver that out with them.”

Google says Canada is lagging in AI adoption, and this investment will help bridge that gap. The company estimates more artificial intelligence could boost the Canadian economy and save average workers over 175 hours a year.

“So one of the real bets here is how do we get these tools into the leaders of tomorrow, get the AI tools of today, and you need to do that to that school system,” said Sabrina Geremia, vice-president and country managing director at Google Canada.

The funding comes some two years after DeepMind, a subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet, pulled out of Edmonton in 2023. DeepMind had opened its Edmonton office in 2017.

Google Canada says there are no plans for similar offices at this time, deciding instead to partner with local AI firms.

Hosted by Amii, Upper Bound runs until Friday at the Edmonton Convention Centre. Some of the speakers include Turing laureate Richard S. Sutton and Alberta ministers of technology and innovation Nate Glubish and Janak Alford (deputy minister).

–With files from Leo Cruzat