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5 U of T thought leaders recently featured at Collision
Geoffrey Hinton
The ‘godfather of artificial intelligence’ sold his AI voice and image recognition startup to Google.
Award-winning AI innovator Geoffrey Hinton is a U of T professor emeritus and former vice-president and engineering fellow at Google. He is the chief scientific advisor and co-creator of U of T’s globally renowned Vector Institute, which empowers researchers, businesses and governments to develop and adopt AI responsibly. Numerous aspiring U of T entrepreneurs have seen startup success with his guidance.
Today, he is raising public awareness of potential AI risks and dedicating his efforts to finding ways to advance its safety.
Raquel Urtasun
Founder and CEO of Waabi, a tech company developing sophisticated AI systems for safe and scalable autonomous driving.
Raquel Urtasun is a world-leading expert in AI who led Uber’s self-driving car division and co-founded U of T’s Vector Institute. Today, she’s bringing together top talent from around the globe to create the next generation of autonomous trucking technology at Waabi.
TIME named the U of T computer science professor one of the 100 most influential people in AI, and Waabi made the Forbes AI 50 list.
Christian Weedbrook
Founder and CEO of Xanadu, a world-leading quantum computing company based in Toronto.
U of T alumnus (post-doctoral fellow) Christian Weedbrook has been at the forefront of bringing quantum technology to the world over the past 15 years through his research and leadership. His company, Xanadu, is working to harness the power of quantum computing to build better batteries, speed up drug discovery and more.
In 2022, the company’s quantum computer, Borealis, which consisted of lasers, mirrors and over a kilometre of optical fibre, achieved quantum computational advantage.
Aidan Gomez
Co-founder and CEO of Cohere, a cutting-edge AI startup that helps companies revolutionize their operations.
After interning with Geoffrey Hinton, U of T alumnus Aidan Gomez co-founded Cohere, a company with artificial intelligence at its core. Gomez strives to give language to technology with his chatbots, search engines and other AI-driven enterprise products.
In September 2023, TIME named Gomez one of the top 100 most influential people in AI. The accolades don’t end there. He also made Maclean’s 2024 Power List for AI.
Etienne Lacroix
Founder and CEO of Vention, which simplifies manufacturing automation with AI.
With a strong project management background and a degree in mechanical engineering, Etienne Lacroix hatched Vention at U of T’s Creative Destruction Lab. The company has expanded rapidly and now helps manufacturing companies at over 4,000 factories spanning five continents design, automate, deploy and operate production floor equipment with ease.
In 2023, Deloitte named Vention one of Canada’s 50 fastest-growing tech companies, citing its growth, entrepreneurial spirit and innovation.