UAE’s TII and Canada’s Mila Forge Strategic AI Research Alliance

The Technology Innovation Institute in Abu Dhabi has struck a new partnership with Mila in Montreal, and the timing couldn’t be more telling. The agreement was announced during Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s official visit to the UAE — a diplomatic backdrop that hints at how seriously both countries are taking their AI ambitions. I’ve seen a fair few cross‑border research deals over the years, especially while covering stories for readers at Arageek, but this one feels a bit more than the usual handshake.

At the heart of the deal is TII’s plan to set up a corporate research lab right inside Mila’s ecosystem, which is home to more than 1,500 AI researchers. For anyone who has ever visited Montreal’s AI district — I once popped by during a work trip and got lost trying to find the right building, bit of a faff — the idea of UAE scientists working shoulder-to-shoulder with Mila’s deep learning community feels like a solid step toward genuine knowledge exchange. TII, after all, is already known for its work on large-scale AI models like Falcon, and bringing that experience into Mila’s orbit should stir up some interesting collaborations.

TII’s CEO, Dr. Najwa Aaraj, described the partnership as a bridge to “one of the most dynamic AI research communities in the world,” noting that such close cooperation could speed up foundational discoveries and strengthen the wider research ecosystem. Mila’s president, Valérie Pisano, echoed that sentiment, highlighting shared interests ranging from AI safety to robotics, sustainable energy and even quantum tech. And believe it or not, both sides are already eyeing further joint work, particularly in applied AI and open-source language models — a space that’s becoming spot on for global competition.

All this comes as ties between the UAE and Canada deepen around innovation. The UAE was named Country of Honour for ALL IN 2025, Canada’s biggest AI gathering, and both governments have been pushing new agreements on digital infrastructure and AI adoption. I reckon these kinds of moves show how countries outside the traditional Silicon Valley orbit are carving their own shapes in the AI landscape.

TII, which sits under the Advanced Technology Research Council, already runs research centres across fields like advanced materials, cryptography, directed energy and renewable systems. Mila, founded by Yoshua Bengio, remains one of the world’s largest academic hubs for deep learning, backed by both the Canadian and Quebec governments. Put together, the partnership feels like a natural fit — or as my grandfather used to say, two pieces from the same puzzle, even when they’re continents apart.

The collaboration also aligns neatly with the UAE’s long-term goal of becoming a global research hub. That said, the true value will show in what comes next: the experiments, the shared papers, the practical breakthroughs. For startups in the MENA region — many of whom I meet while reporting — this kind of global link-up can open doors that previously seemed bolted shut. And, well… I mean, if it helps nudge responsible AI forward, I’m chuffed to bits, even if the road ahead is definately full of challenges.

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