Canada introduces the Canadian Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute to address AI risks

The Canadian government has launched the Canadian Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute (CAISI) to bolster Canada’s capacity to address AI safety risks, further positioning the country as a leader in the safe and responsible development and adoption of AI technologies. It is one component of a broader $2.4 billion investment announced in Budget 2024 to help researchers and businesses develop and adopt AI responsibly.

The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry made the announcement.

CAISI will reportedly leverage Canada’s world-leading AI research ecosystem and talent base to advance the understanding of risks associated with advanced AI systems and to drive the development of measures to address those risks. Building on Canada’s commitment to international collaboration through the Bletchley Declaration, CAISI will also collaborate with safety institutes in other jurisdictions as part of the new International Network of AI Safety Institutes, which will convene for the first time later this month in San Francisco.

Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have underscored both the promise and the risks associated with this transformative technology. Ensuring the safety and responsible use of AI systems is a top priority for the Government of Canada, with experts highlighting evolving risks, including the potential for their misuse in disinformation campaigns, cybersecurity breaches and election interference. The government is taking concrete action to protect Canadians from the potentially harmful impacts of AI, according to an official press statement.

The Canadian AI Safety Institute is part of the government’s broader strategy to promote safe and responsible AI development in Canada, which includes the proposed Artificial Intelligence and Data Act and the Voluntary Code of Conduct on the Responsible Development and Management of Advanced Generative AI Systems.

“As the world grapples with the potential and also the risks of artificial intelligence, CIFAR is pleased to participate in Canada’s response. The CAISI Research Program at CIFAR will draw on the strengths of Canada’s robust AI scientific community in order to advance world-leading research on AI safety, for the benefit of all,” said Stephen Toope, president and CEO of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.

“The rapid development of frontier AI models makes a substantial investment in AI safety research essential. We must notably develop robust safety guarantees for these models, both to mitigate risks and help reap the social and economic benefits of AI. The creation of the Canadian AI Safety Institute is an important step in this direction and demonstrates Canada’s ongoing commitment to the responsible development of AI,” said Yoshua Bengio, Full Professor at Université de Montréal, founder and scientific director of Mila – Quebec AI Institute, and Canada CIFAR AI chair.