EDMONTON — Alberta is investing $50 million over five years in the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute as the province looks to expand the use of artificial intelligence in public services, health care, education and industry.
The provincial government says the funding will support made-in-Alberta AI tools, help businesses adopt emerging technology and prepare workers for future jobs.
Premier Danielle Smith said Alberta has spent more than two decades building its AI sector and is now trying to apply those strengths more broadly across the economy and public sector.
“This investment will help improve public services, support Alberta businesses and create more high-value jobs while keeping Alberta at the forefront of one of the world’s fastest-growing industries,” Smith said.
Five ministries are contributing to the funding.
Technology and Innovation and Advanced Education are each providing $15 million, while Assisted Living and Social Services is contributing $10 million. Primary and Preventative Health Services and Education and Childcare are each contributing $5 million.
Technology and Innovation Minister Nate Glubish said the funding will support better health care, faster public services and more Alberta companies using AI to solve real-world problems.
Glubish said Alberta’s early investment in artificial intelligence has helped build a globally recognized research sector, including work led through Amii.
Amii is one of three national AI institutes in Canada, alongside Mila in Quebec and the Vector Institute in Ontario, under the Pan-Canadian AI Strategy.
The institute is a global centre for reinforcement learning research and works with researchers, students, startups and companies to support AI development and adoption.
Cam Linke, Amii’s CEO, said the investment will help strengthen Alberta’s AI ecosystem by supporting startups, accelerating adoption across industry and government, and building AI literacy across the workforce.
The province says the funding will also support Alberta’s efforts to commercialize research and retain intellectual property developed with public funding.
The government says Canadian AI startups and research have often moved outside the country, taking people, patents and investment with them.
Alberta says the investment will work with the recently established Alberta Intellectual Property Office to help ensure intellectual property created with provincial funding is owned, protected and commercialized in Alberta.
The province has invested about $100 million in Amii since 2002.
Amii supports more than 500 active researchers and 71 Amii fellows and Canada CIFAR AI chairs.
Its chief scientific adviser, Richard Sutton, was a co-recipient of the 2024 A.M. Turing Award, often described as computing’s highest honour.
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