
Uber Technologies Inc. is establishing an artificial intelligence (AI) research group in Toronto’s MaRS Discovery District, attracted by the region’s wealth of AI talent. The company has already recruited a top expert to head up the group, University of Toronto associate professor Raquel Urtasun, a Canada Research Chair in Machine Learning and Computer Vision. The San Francisco-based company is also donating $5 million over several years to the recently established Vector Institute, which is receiving up to $100 million in government funding as part of an effort to produce, attract and retain top talent. AI is considered a strong contender to receive supercluster funding as part of a $950-million federal competition.