Quebec artificial intelligence institute Mila has a new scientific director. Hugo Larochelle started in the job today. He is the former head of Google’s AI research lab in Montreal and an adjunct professor at the Université de Montréal. Mila framed Larochelle as ideal for the job because he has made significant contributions to the advancement of AI, while remaining committed to rigorous, open and socially beneficial science. Larochelle says he will steer Mila to contribute to major scientific breakthroughs while ensuring its work contributes positively to society. He takes over from Laurent Charlin, who had been in the job since Mila founder and AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio transitioned to the scientific adviser role in March. Larochelle trained under Bengio at the Université de Montréal and later was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto under AI godfather Geoffrey Hinton. --- Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 2, 2025.
