July 29, 2021

The Vector Institute is pleased to announce that Platinum industry sponsor NVIDIA has renewed support through 2027.

One of Vector’s founding sponsors, NVIDIA has participated in Vector’s industry collaborative projects, including multi-stakeholder projects to explore and scale state-of-the-art natural language processing models and to use model-based reinforcement learning to increase energy efficiency in data centres, among other efforts.

“NVIDIA’s early recommitment reflects our shared ambition to continue to advance both research and applied AI to unlock business value and positive social impact,” says Garth Gibson, Vector’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Vector’s ongoing relationship with NVIDIA is a testament to Ontario’s ability to attract the best and brightest when it comes to companies and talent realizing new frontiers in AI.”

NVIDIA is an active contributor to the AI research landscape in Canada. In 2018, the company opened its AI Research Lab in Toronto, led by Vector Faculty Member and University of Toronto professor Sanja Fidler. The lab is part of a 200-person strong NVIDIA Research team that is pushing the boundaries of technology in machine learning, computer vision, self-driving cars, robotics, graphics and more.

In April 2021, Vector Institute co-founders and AI pioneers Geoffrey Hinton and Raquel Urtasun presented at GTC, NVIDIA’s global blockbuster GPU Technology Conference. The company’s Senior Research Scientist Animesh Garg is also a Faculty Member at Vector, leading innovative research and projects with a particular focus on robotics.

NVIDIA’s sponsorship renewal coincides with the Canadian government’s latest budget commitment to the CIFAR Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy. In April 2021, the federal government committed to providing $443.8 million over 10 years beginning in 2021-22, signalling the importance of AI development in bolstering Canada’s vibrant AI ecosystem.

Established in 2017, the Vector Institute works with industry, institutions, startups, and government to advance AI research and drive its application, adoption, and commercialization across Canada. Vector’s scientific network currently includes more than 600 active researchers and practitioners from across Canada with expertise in machine learning and deep learning, including many who specialize in applied AI and claim top prizes from the world’s most important conferences and journals.

Industry sponsors benefit from Industry Innovation programs designed to accelerate the application of advanced AI in their organizations, with opportunities to access to Vector’s innovative collaborations, talent and recruitment support, advanced compute environment and AI engineering capabilities, and industry-focused AI training programs for technical and business professionals.