The Ask AI news roundup highlights recent innovations, investments, and breakthroughs in Canada's artificial intelligence sector.
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Editor's picks
📈 Canada's industry minister says he thinks the country is “ahead of the curve” with approach to AI, beating even the European Union. Full story
🌍 The EU Parliament is set to bring AI under greater scrutiny by mandating model registration, transparency, and use of copyrighted data. Full story
💰 Toronto's Cohere, a friend of the Ask AI podcast, has raised $250M from Nvidia, Oracle, Salesforce, Inovia Capital, and Index Ventures to take on the LLM giants. Full story
👂 The CNIB and Ontario Tech University are undertaking research to make Explainable AI accessible for those with sensory and sense processing disabilities. Full story
Breakthroughs & Investments
🏆 AlayaCare, an end-to-end software platform for home-based care, has won the AI Product of the Year at the C2 Montreal conference. Full story
🧬 Canada has invested $124M in Université de Montréal to develop an AI-powered supply chain emcompassing molecular development, biodiversity, and healthcare. Full story
✈️ Toronto's Xaba has collaborated with global aerospace giant Lockeed Martin to achieve a 10X improvement in the productivity of airframe manufacturing robots. Full story
🖼️ Scientists at the NRC's 'AI for Design' program and Yoshua Bengio are building an ML framework for discovering new molecules. Full story
👩🔬 Virtualware has unveiled its first 'VR Room' in Canada at McMaster Innovation Park which is intended to accelerate the adoption of VR in Canadian industry. Full story
🌃 Data Warehouse giant Snowflake is expanding its Toronto engineering hub as it eyes growth in the Canadian market. Full story
Education
💻 St. John’s startup Owlya is using AI to help proctors and trainers to detect if a student is cheating. Full story
🏫 McMaster University has released interim guidelines surrounding the usage of artificial intelligence at their institution. Full story
📝 Three Oaks High Scool in PEI has blocked the use of ChatGPT inside the school and requiring more assignments to be done during class, using pen and paper. Full story
👀 Students and faculty at Saskatchewan universities encouraged to use Generative AI tools as long as they're doing it in an ethical way. Full story
Governance & Ethics
⛑️ Canadian AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio says he will be redirecting his research to focus on applications that are "safe for society". Full story
Sustainability
💧 A new video posted by the CBC explores how the supercomputers that run AI are staying cool by using massive amounts of fresh, clean drinking water. Full story
Healthcare
🦠 Scientists from McGill University have created a device that uses AI to analyse samples of saliva to detect diseases like COVID-19 in just minutes with 95% accuracy. Full story
🏡 The city of London, Ontario has developed an AI tool to predict the likelihood of someone becoming chronically homeless in the next 6 months. Full story
Business
💸 Ottawa's Contextere has announced a deal with NyRad Inc. to develop a carbon offset pilot for the defense industry, a market expected to reach $350B by 2025. Full story
🧍 Private AI, a startup which makes 50+ types of personal information secure for use in LLMs such as ChatGPT, has been selected as a 'Tech Pioneer' by the WEF. Full story
🖥️ IKEA Canada has launched 'Kreativ', a digital experience that combines AI, spatial computing, and VR to enable customers to design and visualize spaces. Full story
⚖️ Thomson Reuters is buying US-based Casetext for $650 USD, a company which uses AI to build digital solutions for lawyers. Full story
📲 Canadian Tire and Microsoft Canada have announced strategic partnership to drive retail innovation, including the advancement and adoption of AI technology. Full story
Social
👤 Dongwook Yoon, a University of British Columbia professor is conducting research into the digital replication an individual’s appearance and behaviour. Full story
✍️ Two B.C. artists are teaching students to use Generative AI to create art for the Malahat Skyway that's inspired by Canadian artist Jean Paul Riopelle. Full story
Agriculture & Food Security
🐄 CULT Food Science will use Alcheme Bio's artificial intelligence technology to optimize flavor and nutrition in cultivated meat and cell-based dairy. Full story
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