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This is the first instalment of Generation AI, a regular column that will explore innovations being made in the vast area of artificial intelligence, in which Canada is a top global player.

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It was a big news item for the startup community when Microsoft announced last week the acquisition of Maluuba – a Montreal-based deep learning research lab for natural language understanding, and the doubling of its AI campus there. But the reality is, an acquisition by a major player is quickly becoming old news in the artificial intelligence (AI) world (a term that is also applied to the disciplines of deep learning and machine learning).

Maluuba was founded in 2011 by Sam Pasupalak and Kaheer Suleman after they graduated from University of Waterloo. “We went through a number of accelerator programs including Velocity and Communitech when we started,” Pasupalak says.

In 2014 they set their sights on Montreal to join the AI ecosystem of more than 150 deep learning researchers with University of Montreal and McGill, he adds. “It’s the highest concentration in the world.”

Like many projects that fall under the AI spectrum, deep learning and natural language is an esoteric discipline few laypeople relate to. But what isn’t hard to grasp is Maluuba’s success, since many players are anxious to get a foothold in Canada’s AI community.