Hugo Larochelle Appointed Scientific Director of Mila – Quebec AI Institute
Montreal, QC – Hugo Larochelle, a leading figure in artificial intelligence research and a veteran of both Google and Twitter, has been named the new scientific director of Mila – Quebec AI Institute. The appointment signals a new era for the globally recognized AI research hub as it navigates a period of rapid technological advancement and increasing demand for responsible AI development.
Larochelle’s arrival comes at a pivotal moment for Mila and the broader AI landscape. As generative AI rapidly transforms industries, mila is poised to play a crucial role in shaping its future – not only through groundbreaking research but also by fostering a thriving ecosystem for AI adoption. His leadership will be instrumental in guiding the institute’s research direction, attracting top talent, and translating cutting-edge discoveries into real-world applications.
A University of Toronto alumnus, Larochelle’s academic foundation was further solidified under the mentorship of AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton, earning his postdoctoral degree with the Nobel Prize winner. His research has significantly contributed to advancements in areas like zero-shot learning, a technique enabling AI models to generalize to unseen tasks without retraining.
Prior to joining Mila, Larochelle held a prominent position leading Google’s AI research lab in Montreal, now integrated within Google deepmind. This followed a stint at Twitter after the social media giant acquired his machine learning startup, Whetlab, in 2015. He described his approach to leadership as one of guidance, stating, “I’m there to nudge [researchers] in interesting directions.”
Larochelle also intends to pursue his own research interests, focusing on leveraging AI for environmental monitoring, specifically utilizing satellite data to track biodiversity.He emphasized his view of AI as “a key for bringing more intelligence into our economy,” and expressed his commitment to “nurturing that technology the right way.”