How Toronto Evolved into a Global AI Powerhouse

In the 1980s, Nobel Prize-winning computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton took an unconventional gamble, leaving a well-funded post at Carnegie Mellon University to pursue an obscure, little-studied corner of machine learning at the University of Toronto. Four decades later, that foundational work has reshaped how modern artificial intelligence operates while transforming Canada’s largest metropolis into a powerhouse tech capital, CNN reported. While California has long reigned as the epicenter of global tech, an influential artificial intelligence ecosystem has emerged around Hinton in Ontario.

“I was lucky because very few people were working on this 20 years ago, and so smart young students would come to Toronto … and they’ve now turned into a whole generation of AI leaders,” Hinton told CNN in an interview. Hinton added that, unlike the United States, under the Trump administration, Canada welcomes immigration, which technology companies have long relied on as a talent pipeline. Hinton’s proteges include Nick Frosst, who studied under Hinton before becoming one of his earliest hires at Google’s Toronto AI lab in 2017. Frosst later co-founded Cohere, an enterprise AI firm now valued at $7 billion. Rather than migrating south to build his venture, Frosst chose to stay put because of the city's diverse culture, which complements his dual life as a tech founder and frontman for the indie rock band Good Kid. Also, for Hinton, retaining domestic leadership in AI remains an urgent economic imperative.

“I don’t think we can afford for Canada to get all this technology from the States or from China,” Hinton said, warning that if AI triggers widespread disruption, the wealth generated from automation must remain in Canada so it can be taxed locally to support displaced workers.

Toronto now reportedly boasts the world’s third best tech talent market, ahead of New York City but behind San Francisco and Seattle, according to an annual analysis by commercial real estate firm CBRE. This is also said to be thanks to educational institutions like the University of Toronto, and public-private research institutes like the Vector Institute, which Hinton co-founded.

“There’s a great tech ecosystem, there’s also a great arts community, there’s also a great academic community, there’s a great business community,” Frosst told CNN, explaining that Toronto’s lack of a tech monoculture fosters independent thinking and innovation. Beyond cultural appeal, Canadian policy has proven to be a decisive advantage. Unlike past US administrations that restricted skilled immigration, Canada has positioned itself as an open haven for global engineers, providing crucial work permits when American H-1B visas fall through.

Jordan Jacobs, managing partner at Radical Ventures, told CNN that these friendly policies attract talent adept at building for international audiences, aided by convenient short-haul flights to major American hubs like New York, Washington, and Chicago. Gennady Pekhimenko, who sold his startup CentML to Nvidia last year and now serves as senior director of AI software for the chip giant, said Toronto’s international food scene serves as a useful recruiting tool for out-of-town talent. One of Pekhimenko’s first hires at CentML was an Amazon engineer who was unable to renew his H1-B visa to stay in the United States. He could, however, get a Canadian work permit.

Industry heavyweights have taken note. Giants like Google, Nvidia, Meta, and Microsoft now operate research outposts near the University of Toronto, flanked by startups and cross-sector players like pharmaceutical titan Sanofi, which committed nearly $300 million to a local AI center. The surge has propelled Toronto to the third-ranked tech talent market globally according to CBRE, trailing only San Francisco and Seattle.