Impact Report 2023-2024

Rising to the Occasion

Impact Report 2023-2024

Foreword
Photo of Valérie Pisano
Photo of Yoshua Bengio
Photo of Pierre Boivin

A few years ago, when Mila was established as a non-profit organization, only a handful of experts were talking about artificial intelligence (AI). 

At that time, Canada was the first country in the world to fund a national AI research strategy and Mila, with about 300 researchers, was doing work that held high promise. But those innovations and advances still seemed far from real-world applications. 

Today, AI is progressing at remarkable speed. Breakthroughs in generative AI and the resulting debates are top-of-mind for businesses and policymakers alike. Some are calling it a new industrial revolution, while others urge caution in deploying tools with such disruptive potential. One thing is certain: the pace of AI development is accelerating at an unprecedented rate. In this shifting and uncertain landscape, Mila is one of the organizations best positioned to make a difference for its partners in academia, industry, civil society and government. 

This fall, AI took center stage at the Nobel Prize ceremony, underscoring its potential to drive scientific advancements. Building on the successes of previous generations, and now backed by a growing community of over 1,300 researchers and more than 140 industry partners, Mila’s experts are working on impactful projects across a range of fields, including health, genetics, neuroscience, the discovery of new materials, climate and the integration of Indigenous knowledge into the development of new technologies. 

At Mila, we believe that realizing AI’s promise requires efforts to understand and mitigate its risks. Human rights issues are central to much of what our researchers and experts are doing, and they have brought these conversations to the global stage. Recognized as a hub for AI ethics, Mila is also today at the forefront of research into the safety of AI systems. Our scientific director Yoshua Bengio has been asked to chair the inaugural International Scientific Report on the Safety of Advanced AI and is actively engaging with governments and international organizations worldwide, earning him recognition as one of the most prominent figures in the world in 2024. 

At this pivotal moment, our governments and businesses need guidance on responsibly and effectively deploying AI in their operations. Now more than ever, Mila is at the forefront of these issues, supporting the development of AI for the benefit of all. 

 

  • Valérie Pisano, President and CEO
  • Yoshua Bengio, Founder and Scientific Director
  • Pierre Boivin, Chairman of the Board of Directors

Cutting-edge AI Research

Mila is committed to fostering meaningful contributions and scientific leadership in the field of AI. This year, our research community has once again made remarkable advances in a variety of areas, from fundamental developments in machine learning to interdisciplinary applications in sectors such as health and climate.

A man writing algorithms on a glass wall.

159

Faculty members

Over the past year, Mila has welcomed 37 new professors, a growth of 30%.

1,154

Student-researchers

As of September 2024, Mila had more than 1,150 student-researchers in its community.

734

Research projects

Research projects involving Mila-affiliated faculty members have shown a steady increase, rising 23% since last year from 599 to 734.

700+

Peer-reviewed articles

Mila researchers have been highly prolific, publishing over 700 peer-reviewed articles since last October. Among these, more than 150 were accepted at the main conferences of the three major annual AI research events: NeurIPS 2023, ICLR 2024 and ICML 2024.

475

Scholarships

The number of scholarships awarded to Mila students since last year, for a total of $8,56 million.

13

CIFAR Chair renewals

Over the past year, 13 of our faculty members have been reappointed as Canada CIFAR AI Chairs, a cornerstone of the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy. 

Awards and Distinctions

Mila professors have garnered prestigious awards and nominations for excellence over the past year. 

Yoshua Bengio awarded the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering

It’s been another busy year for Yoshua Bengio, founder and scientific director of Mila, who has received significant recognition for his contributions to AI. In November 2023, he received Canada’s most prestigious science honour, the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering, for his groundbreaking discoveries and influential leadership. In April, he received the Médaille d’honneur from the Quebec National Assembly in recognition of his scientific career and commitment to making Quebec a world leader in the responsible development of AI. 

David Ifeoluwa Adelani appointed Canada CIFAR AI Chair

In February, David Ifeoluwa Adelani, Assistant Professor at McGill University and Core Academic Member of Mila, was appointed Canada CIFAR AI Chair. Professor Adelani, who joined our community last year, is conducting groundbreaking research on ways of improving the performance and accessibility of artificial intelligence tools for speakers of underrepresented languages, including African, Latin American and Indigenous languages.

Tal Arbel inducted into the Canadian Academy of Engineering

In May, Tal Arbel, Full Professor at McGill University and Core Academic Member of Mila, was inducted as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. Among her many achievements, Professor Arbel has set up an internationally renowned multidisciplinary research program focused on the development of probabilistic machine learning models to address a wide range of challenges in the field of medical imaging.

 

Foutse Khomh receives top honours for his achievements in responsible AI

Last November, Foutse Khomh, Professor at Polytechnique Montréal and Associate Academic Member of Mila, received the 2023 Arthur B. McDonald Fellowship in recognition of “his significant contributions to improving the reliability and fairness of machine learning and AI systems while upholding ethical principles in the field.”  In June, he also became a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Trustworthy Intelligent Software Systems. 

Golnoosh Farnadi named one of 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics

In December 2023, Golnoosh Farnadi, Assistant Professor at McGill and Core Academic Member of Mila, was included in Medium's 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics annual list, which recognizes significant contributions to this critical space.

Liam Paull and Gregory Dudek receive CS-CAN|INFO-CAN awards for their achievements in robotics

In June, Mila faculty members Liam Paull and Gregory Dudek were honoured by Computer Science Canada for their exceptional achievements in and lasting contributions to the field. Liam Paull, Assistant Professor at Université de Montréal and Core Academic Member of Mila, received the Outstanding Early Career Computer Science Researcher Award, while Gregory Dudek, Full Professor at McGill University and Associate Academic Member of Mila, was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Mila researchers highlighted at world-class conferences

Throughout the year, Mila researchers took the stage to present more than 150 papers at the main conferences of the biggest events in AI research. From the round-the-clock energy of NeurIPS 2023 in New Orleans to the bustling halls of ICLR 2024 and ICML 2024 in Vienna, Mila students’ work was highlighted in highly coveted spotlight and oral presentations.

A crowd of people listening to a presentation at a conference.
Sébastien Lachapelle, a PhD student at Mila and Université de Montréal working under the supervision of Simon Lacoste-Julien, and Divyat Mahajan, a PhD student at Mila and Université de Montréal working under the supervision of Ioannis Mitliagkas, gave a presentation in front of hundreds of fellow researchers at NeurIPS 2023. They presented their paper “Additive Decoders for Latent Variables Identification and Cartesian-Product Extrapolation.”
A person presenting in front of an audience at a conference.
Zhen Liu, a PhD student at Mila and Université de Montréal working under the supervision of Liam Paull and Yoshua Bengio, presented his paper “Ghost on the Shell: An Expressive Representation of General 3D Shapes” at ICLR 2024, introducing a method for modelling both watertight and non-watertight meshes.
A researcher presenting its work at a conference's poster session.
Andreas Madsen, a PhD student at Mila and Polytechnique Montréal working under the supervision of Sarath Chandar and Siva Reddy, saw his paper “Faithfulness Measurable Masked Language Models” featured as a Spotlight poster at ICML 2024, where he shared his method of ensuring that AI models are safe and trustworthy with peers from all over the world.

Highlights

In November 2023, on the initiative of a group of Mila students, around 100 researchers gathered in Mila for the first workshop on generative flow networks, a novel machine learning method for generating objects sequentially to accelerate scientific research and improve the transparency of AI models.

Antenna: using AI to detect and classify insects at scale

With the alarming decline in insect populations, which poses a serious threat to the balance of ecosystems and agriculture, the importance of research into species discovery, monitoring and analysis is greater than ever. Led by Professor David Rolnick's lab and Mila's applied projects team, in collaboration with the Montreal Insectarium, Antenna is an online platform that enables entomologists, ecologists and computer scientists to create reliable and dynamic image datasets using advanced machine learning techniques for real-world applications. Through comprehensive insect monitoring, Antenna provides experts with the data they need to inform policies on land use, climate change and biodiversity conservation.

Advancing responsible game worlds scaling: the Ubisoft-Mila Industrial Research Chair

In the context of game world creation, what constitutes a healthy dynamic between purely learning-based and purely human methods of content creation raises important questions that need to be addressed. As AI continues to advance in the video game industry, Mila and Ubisoft have teamed up to explore the responsible use of AI in scaling game worlds. Launched in September 2023, this five-year initiative led by Professor Derek Nowrouzezahrai aims to guide technological innovation in the video game industry and help train a new generation of professionals skilled in evaluating and integrating creative AI solutions. 

Members of the Ubisoft-Mila Chair team discuss algorithms together in front of a whiteboard.

CARDIO-TWIN: detecting cardiovascular risk in women using digital twins

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death globally and the second in Canada, claiming 206 Canadian lives daily—most of them women. To combat this, Dr. Samira A. Rahimi, Assistant Professor at McGill University and Associate Academic Member at Mila leads CARDIO-TWIN, a government-funded international project. CARDIO-TWIN aims to enhance early CVD detection and prevention by equipping primary care providers with personalized risk assessments and strategies, with a focus on women’s health. This initiative strives to streamline healthcare practices and advance patient-centered, scalable solutions for improved global CVD outcomes.

Digital twin of the human heart.

Safe AI for Humanity (SAIFH): countering major AI risks with safe-by-design AI

The advent of surprisingly competent generative AI has shifted the perspectives of many leading researchers, including Mila’s founder and scientific director Yoshua Bengio, on the future of AI. These experts now believe that AI models may approach human-level capabilities and beyond much sooner than they had expected and that reaching this milestone could involve major risks. This observation has prompted Professor Bengio to focus much of his research on improving AI safety, particularly by addressing alignment and control problems. In June, he launched Safe AI for Humanity (SAIFH), an independent research endeavour with a dedicated team searching for ways to develop safe-by-design AI. 

Group photo of the SAIFH team.
Earlier this fall, as part of a France-Quebec institutional partnership, Mila hosted the workshop "NLP in the Era of Generative AI, Cognitive Sciences, and Societal Transformation." The three-day event featured keynote presentations, panel discussions, interactive sessions, and poster presentations by PhD students.

AI research driven by real-world problems

David Rolnick, Core Academic Member of Mila, published a paper arguing that most AI algorithms are not designed with specific problems in mind and often fail to solve them. Instead of focusing solely on developing increasingly powerful general AI models, Rolnick advocates for addressing the particular requirements and constraints of real-world problems. He suggests that application-driven and methods-driven approaches to AI research should complement each other. By focusing on the needs of specific problems, researchers can create cross-cutting innovations that are applicable to a wide range of challenges.

A robotic arm in a greenhouse picking tomatoes.

How LLMs can push the boundaries of health research

A research paper  published in Neuron by Danilo Bzdok and Siva Reddy, Core Academic Members of Mila, highlights the potential of AI tools based on Large Language Models (LLMs) to accelerate scientific discovery, particularly in neuroscience. The paper argues that LLMs could break down research silos and foster interdisciplinary collaboration. For example, researchers studying complex diseases like Alzheimer’s, who may lack access to data from other fields, could use LLMs to bridge knowledge gaps. By analyzing large datasets across disciplines, LLMs could even suggest new research directions, advancing our understanding of complex issues.

The role of the self-attention layer in the transformer neural network architecture.

DROID: a large-scale in-the-wild robot manipulation dataset

While Large Language Models (LLMs) have excelled in natural language processing tasks thanks to extensive datasets, robotics faces a challenge in that regard. Unlike LLMs, which benefit from vast text corpora, robotics lacks comparably large datasets for manipulation tasks. Members of the Robotics and Embodied AI (REAL) Lab have collaborated with 12 other research labs around the world to produce a large, diverse, high-quality robot manipulation dataset. This initiative aims to address the scarcity of comprehensive datasets in robotics, enhancing the development of manipulation algorithms for real-world applications.

People watching a robotic arm at work in a factory.

Governance & Global Reach

As AI development accelerates and AI capabilities and their governance continue to be a subject of debate, Mila has been at the forefront in providing expertise and thought leadership locally, nationally and internationally. Over the past year, we have also strengthened our learning offerings to increase awareness, literacy and capacity for responsible AI across all sectors. 

Yoshua Bengio, Valérie Pisano and Amandeep Singh Gill at Mila's AI and Human Rights Conference.

1st 

Human Rights + AI Conference

Held at Mila in February, the international conference “Protecting Human Rights in the Age of AI” brought together over 200 participants.

250+ 

Learners 

Over 250 people enrolled in our in-house responsible AI learning programs: the Summer School on Responsible AI and Human Rights, TRAIL Research and Industry, and AI Policy Compass.

5,000+ 

Participants

In 2023-24, we engaged with over 5,000 public servants about AI through our Speaker Series, in collaboration with the Canada School of Public Service (CSPS).

50,262

Media mentions 

Over the past year, Mila and its researchers have been mentioned more than 50,000 times in the media worldwide.

Highlights

In September, Mila co-organized the second edition of ALL IN, Canada’s premier AI event. Mila was proud to have a strong presence in the event programming, with Valérie Pisano, Yoshua Bengio, Guillaume Lajoie, Anna Jahn, Gauthier Gidel, Isadora Hellegren Létourneau, and Lynnsey Chartrand participating in panel discussions on various topics.

Yoshua Bengio appointed chair for International Scientific Report on the Safety of Advanced AI

Last November, at the UK’s AI Safety Summit, our founder and scientific director, Yoshua Bengio, was commissioned to chair work on the International Scientific Report on the Safety of Advanced AI as part of an international mandate following a resolution by representatives of 30 countries, the EU and the UN. Drawing on the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), this initiative aims to provide policy-makers and global audiences with a shared, science-based, up-to-date understanding of the safety of advanced AI to inform national and international policy making. The interim report was published in May during the AI Seoul Summit. The final report will be presented at the AI Action Summit in France in February 2025.

Group photo of dignitaries at the UK AI Safety Summit in November 2023.

Protecting human rights in the age of AI

In February, Mila welcomed key stakeholders from government, academia, civil society and industry for its first international conference on AI and human rights. Co-organized by Catherine Régis, Full Professor at the Université de Montréal and Associate Academic Member of Mila, and Benjamin Prud'homme, Mila's Vice President of Policy, Safety and Global Affairs, the three-day event highlighted the urgent need to integrate human rights in AI governance mechanisms. The conference opened with a highly anticipated conversation moderated by our president and CEO, Valérie Pisano, featuring Amandeep Singh Gill, the UN Secretary-General's Envoy for Technology, Alondra Nelson, Harold F. Linder Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, and Yoshua Bengio.

Mila co-hosts future of AI event at 79th UN General Assembly

In September, Mila, in collaboration with the Office of the UN Secretary-General's Envoy for Technology and the OECD GPAI, co-organized the high-impact dialogue “Towards a Common Understanding of AI Capabilities, Opportunities and Risks: Forging the Path for a Positive Future for All,” held at UN headquarters in New York. Given the urgent need for cross-institutional collaboration and knowledge sharing to address the complex challenges posed by AI, the discussion addressed key issues such as balancing innovation and ethics, equitably distributing the benefits of AI, and managing the associated risks.

Participants at a UN meeting in September 2024.

Yoshua Bengio one of the world's most influential people in 2024

In spring 2024, our founder and scientific director, Yoshua Bengio, was included in the TIME100 annual list of the world's 100 most influential people, alongside the likes of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Russian public figure Yulia Navalnaya, and American football quarterback Patrick Mahomes. 

In September, he also appeared for the second year running on TIME’s 2024 list of the most influential people in AI

In September, during Emmanuel Macron's official visit to Canada, Mila’s founder and scientific director Yoshua Bengio, and its president and CEO, Valérie Pisano, had the honour of attending a luncheon dedicated to AI, in the presence of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the President of the French Republic.

Empowering policy professionals in Canada

With AI increasingly present in all sectors, Mila is actively working to empower public policy professionals across the country. In partnership with the Public Policy Forum (PPF), the AI Policy Compass program provides decision makers with an in-depth understanding of the implications and complexities of the technology. Since its launch last year, the program has been presented six times, attracting a total of 85 participants in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto. In addition, Mila and CIFAR recently launched AI Insights for Policymakers, a platform that connects policymakers with AI scientists to inform their thinking about AI and policy. 

Group photo of the Summer 2024 AI Policy Compass cohort.
In May, Mila's founder and scientific director Yoshua Bengio, participated virtually in the Paris Viva Technology conference, one of the world's largest annual events for innovation and startups. Among other topics, he addressed various measures needed to mitigate the risks associated with the rapid development of frontier AI models.

Taking responsible AI education to the next level

Over the past year, Mila strengthened its responsible AI education initiatives by tailoring its offerings to various audiences. In partnership with the Université de Montréal, for the second year running, we welcomed 40 participants from over 20 nationalities to our Summer School in Responsible AI and Human Rights. Our TRAIL (Trustworthy and Responsible AI Learning) program for machine learning researchers and industry experts continued to thrive, with expanded sessions tailored to Mila's research labs. We also continued our collaboration with the Canada School of Public Service on its AI lecture series, in which Mila professors and experts spoke about the responsible use of AI in government. 

Photo of the Fall 2024 Trail Research cohort in action.
A man walking down the stairs at Mila.

Adoption & Innovation

In keeping with its mission, Mila empowers organizations to harness AI for both social and economic impacts. This year, collaborative research between our partners, faculty members and our applied research team led to significant innovations in the real world. Meanwhile, our Entrepreneurship Lab continued to propel the creation and growth of Mila startups, many of which have already attracted international attention.

Exterior facade of the Mila building.

$20M

Total value of activities

In the last fiscal year, Mila's AI Adoption activities represented close to $20 million, encompassing 364 projects and transactions that supported 230 different organizations.

32

New partners

Mila welcomed 32 new partner organizations to its community, which now numbers 145 partners. 

13 

New Mila Startups 

Mila supported the growth of 13 new startups, expanding its network to 41 startups founded by Mila researchers, which have collectively raised a total of $52M in funding.

65+

Internships

More than 65 Mila students completed industry internships in the past year. 

15 

Consulting projects

Mila conducted 15 consulting projects to assist and advise Canadian companies. 

3,900 

Participants

Around 3,900 participants attended Mila’s 50 science communication events.

Highlights

Throughout the year, Mila expanded its efforts across Quebec, connecting with over 50 companies in regions including Abitibi, Chaudière-Appalaches, Gaspésie, and Bas-Saint-Laurent. Through regional visits and meetings in Montreal, Mila gave companies in key sectors an opportunity to explore AI adoption, discover practical use cases, and brainstorm innovative AI solutions for Quebec businesses.

Optimizing HVAC systems for greater energy efficiency

Mila researchers, in collaboration with BrainBox, used reinforcement learning techniques to improve the performance of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems, which are responsible for an estimated 15% of global CO2 emissions. The applied project optimized energy consumption by predicting indoor temperature and HVAC system energy use through physics-informed machine learning models, creating a predictive algorithm to adapt indoor temperatures while conserving energy during peak demand times, without compromising occupant comfort. By enhancing prediction accuracy and data efficiency for sustainability, the collaborative project addresses major challenges in building management and energy conservation.

Sunlight and tree shadows on the facade of a glass building.

Government of Canada commits $2.4B to strengthen AI advantage

In April, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a historic investment of over $2 billion in AI, including a strategic national computing infrastructure and the establishment of a dedicated AI safety research institute. Mila is proud to contribute to Canada’s global AI presence and strengthen its world-leading AI research ecosystem, all while advocating for safe and responsible AI development.

Valérie Pisano speaking at a Government of Canada announcement.

Democratizing drug discovery through open science

Mila researchers collaborated with Amgen to create an accessible, open-source protein language model that offers competitive performance without the need for exorbitant financial or computational resources. By democratizing AI in life sciences, this cutting-edge model empowers smaller labs to participate in drug and protein discovery and drive global advances in therapeutic research.

Representation of protein language model.

A year of growth for Mila startups

Mila Startups continued to make their mark in a wide range of sectors this year, with the 41 startups raising a total of over $52M dollars since their inception.

  • Material Discovery / Entalpic, a startup at the forefront of generative AI for material discovery in the chemical industry, raised $12.5M in seed funding. 
  • Arts & Entertainment / At the Cannes Film Festival, Wscripted unveiled the projects and artists selected for its Cannes Screenplay List, supporting scripts by women and non-binary writers. 
  • Sports / SportBoost AI, a startup at the intersection of sports and computer vision, teamed up with the Tour de France to highlight its product.
Three cyclists are moving down a road.

Applying AI to power line inspections

In partnership with Hydro-Québec, Mila’s Applied Machine Learning Research Team adapted computer vision algorithms for anomaly detection in robotic power line inspections. The researchers produced a robust dataset of annotated anomalies across various cable types that enables more extensive and in-depth algorithm analysis for inspecting cable conditions across the network, notably in few-shot and zero-shot learning scenarios. The project is expected to enable faster, more effective anomaly detection, ultimately enhancing Hydro-Québec's ability to improve network security and operational efficiency. This research, which produced a paper accepted at NeurIPS 2024, fills a critical gap by offering realistic benchmarks for AI models, with the potential to generalize to complex, real-world scenarios and improve AI adoption in industrial applications.

47 scientific papers published in collaboration with Intel

Mila’s partnerships are major drivers of applied research and innovation. In the past two years alone, Mila researchers have published 47 papers in collaboration with partner Intel, many of which have been accepted and showcased at the top global academic conferences such as NeurIPS, ICLR and ICML. The research spans a wide variety of fields, including material discovery, climate change, drug discovery and omics. 

Detailed photo of an Intel motherboard.

Leveraging deep learning for an immersive cinematic experience

Mila concluded a collaborative project with D-BOX, a world leader in haptic and immersive experiences, to integrate AI in the automation of haptic feedback in movie theatre seats, enhancing realism for a more immersive cinematic experience. The project leveraged deep learning to detect instances where motion, texture and vibration could be integrated in audio and video content to synchronize seat movements. These automated tools helped D-BOX improve efficiency and scale its design processes, demonstrating AI's potential to transform creative industries and offer audiences an elevated entertainment experience.

D-BOX chairs in a movie theater.
In January, three Mila Startups joined a delegation to Japan. With the support of Investissement Québec, the startups Dreamfold, Driad AI and Korbit had the opportunity to meet with numerous Japanese organizations and expand their international network.

Deploying AI and music to improve mental health and well-being

Mila collaborated with LUCID Therapeutics, a Canadian health technology company specializing in the use of AI and music to enhance mental health and well-being, with the aim of integrating machine learning more effectively in its brain activity analysis. The AI-powered tool uses personalized music to reduce agitation, stress and depression and improve mood in geriatric patients. By deciphering the intricate relationship between music and the brain, AI can help create therapeutic, personalized music experiences as a non-invasive and effective alternative to traditional pharmacological treatments. 

A woman listens to music through large headphones.
In June, Mila welcomed seven innovative Korean startups from the Seoul AI Hub business accelerator as part of a dynamic ongoing partnership with the Seoul Metropolitan Government. Over 15 weeks, the startups were matched with Mila researchers and participated in Mila’s global “Scientist-in-Residence” joint research program.
Photo of Frederic Chanay-Savoyen.

From PM Trudeau’s announcement of a $2.4 billion investment in AI to the doubling of Mila’s cluster capacity, the question of compute power and growth is more important than ever, at Mila and across the globe. Our team is making a real impact on the AI adoption and innovation landscape, as reflected in the success of our applied research projects, industry collaborations, and AI startups. I’m incredibly proud to have joined Mila to help define what’s next in this ever-evolving field. 

Frederic Chanay-Savoyen, Mila's new Vice President of AI Solutions and Technology

Talent & Community 

Mila takes pride in its vibrant and diverse community and strives to foster a human-centred, purpose-driven environment. This year, we celebrated everyone who has been part of Mila by hosting our inaugural alumni event. We also introduced a new program in our inclusion portfolio with the aim of igniting Indigenous talent to learn, develop and lead the evolution of AI. 

Mila students and professors chatting outside.

1550+

Community members

As of September 2024, Mila had more than 1550 active members in its community.  

60%+

International students 

Mila's status as a global hub for AI research is reflected in its 64% international student body. 

102 

Participants in inclusion programs

In the past year, Mila welcomed over 100 participants to its programs aimed at enabling underrepresented groups to succeed in AI. 

350K+

EDI scholarships 

Since its creation in 2023, the Mila EDI Scholarships Program has awarded more than 40 excellence scholarships for a total amount of $361,187. 

1,439

Mila Alumni

The Mila alumni community now has over 1,400 members.

Highlights

In August, Mila hosted an event for recent graduates of the Professional Master’s and Graduate Diploma in Machine Learning, offered in collaboration with the Université de Montréal. Many professors, program mentors, and members of the UdeM and Mila administration joined us to celebrate the graduates' achievements.

Igniting Indigenous talent: the Inaugural Indigenous Pathfinders in AI Program

Launched at Mila in May and delivered in partnership with IndspireIndigenous Pathfinders in AI is a pioneering summer program designed to ignite Indigenous talent to learn, develop and lead the evolution of AI. Rooted in community worldviews, it bridges Indigenous perspectives with AI technologies. For its inaugural session, the program brought together 11 First Nations, Métis, and Inuit participants from across Canada. Throughout the summer, they engaged in a blend of classroom learning and hands-on experiences, developing AI projects aimed at benefiting Indigenous communities in Canada. To mark the program’s conclusion, they presented three AI prototypes addressing critical issues such as Indigenous food sovereignty, access to education and health.

Professor Dhanya Sridhar advocates for women in AI at NeurIPS 2023

In December, Dhanya Sridhar, Assistant Professor at the Université de Montréal and Core Academic Member of Mila, represented our institute at the Women in Machine Learning Workshop (WiML) during NeurIPS 2023. This annual event offers women and women-identifying individuals a platform to engage in panel discussions and share their work with established female researchers from academia and industry. Professor Sridhar hosted a roundtable and, alongside her PhD student Mizu Nishikawa-Toomey, shared insights on the experiences of underrepresented groups at Mila while providing guidance to aspiring younger researchers in academia.

Members of the Mila delegation at NeurIPS 2023.

A memorable evening: Mila's first annual alumni celebration

In March, Mila celebrated its growing alumni community by hosting its first annual alumni event. This memorable evening offered an opportunity for reunion, reflection, and celebration of Mila's 30-year journey, from its beginnings at the Université de Montréal to the present day. The 150 or more attendees enjoyed inspiring remarks from professors Yoshua Bengio, Nicolas Leroux, Joelle Pineau, Hugo Larochelle and Golnoosh Farnadi, followed by a delightful evening of food, drinks and music.

Yoshua Bengio, Nicolas Leroux, Joelle Pineau and Hugo Larochelle at the Mila Alumni celebration.
Last February, Mila and the Black at Mila collective organized a series of events to showcase Black scholars’ contributions and excellence in AI research. Highlights included a talk by Jamelle Watson-Daniels from Harvard University and a community celebration.

AI4Good Lab: empowering gender-diverse groups to succeed in AI

In June, nearly 90 trainees from across the country gathered at Mila to showcase 17 machine learning prototypes developed in the AI4Good Lab summer program. This demo day marked the culmination of seven weeks of dedicated work, during which participants applied knowledge from the program’s curriculum to explore how AI can address societal challenges. Co-founded in 2017 by Doina Precup, Associate Professor at McGill University and Core Academic Member of Mila, the AI4Good Lab is designed to equip women, trans women and non-binary individuals with the skills to build their own machine learning projects.

2024 cohort of the AI4Good Lab program.

Mila returns to Deep Learning Indaba

In early September, a Mila delegation composed of student-researchers Nicole Osayande, Chris Emezue, Brice Nanda, Afaf Taïk and Sékou-Oumar Kaba and academic affairs coordinator Cristina Eickhoff de Oliveira travelled to Dakar, Senegal, for the annual Deep Learning Indaba conference. For the second consecutive year, Mila proudly sponsored this premier AI event, which brought together over 600 experts to showcase African participation in and contributions to advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning, while strengthening diversity in these fields.

The Mila booth at the Deep Learning Indaba conference.

Revitalizing the Mila spaces

Inaugurated in 2019, Mila’s 90,000-square-foot office in the Mile Ex neighbourhood needed an upgrade to better accommodate our expanding research community and the evolving needs of the post-pandemic work environment. To this end, our teams collaborated with a design partner on a comprehensive revitalization effort. The initiative included many improvements, such as creating more collaborative spaces, enhancing our common areas, greening our environment, and launching initiatives to creatively showcase the stories of Mila and its members over the years.

Photo of a new collaborative space in the Mila offices.
In April, over 250 participants attended this year’s Mila Techaide event, raising more than $100,000 in support of Centraide of Greater Montréal. The one-day research conference featured prominent panelists and speakers such as Ian Goodfellow, Bruce Schneier, Hsiu-Chin Lin, Ryan Lowe, Sara Sabour, Doina Precup, and Yoshua Bengio.
Two people walking in and out of the Mila building.

Financials 

Income
Income 2023-24
  • Government grants
  • Industry contracts
  • Leasing
  • Other
  • Amortization of deferred contributions related to tangible capital assets
Total income
55 349 373
Expenses
Expenses 2023-24
  • Research
  • Research support, innovation and computing power
  • Projects, industry relationships and training
  • Amortization of tangible capital assets
  • General administration
Total expenses
50 866 848