Huawei Partners with University of Alberta to Establish Multimillion-Dollar AI Lab
Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant that is facing national security restrictions from Canada, has provided multimillion-dollar funding to a University of Alberta professor for establishing a new artificial intelligence research institution.
University of Alberta computer science professor Richard Sutton is launching the Openmind Research Institute (ORI) with $4.8 million in funding from Huawei, as first reported by Globe and Mail. The institute, set to open on Nov. 24 in Edmonton, will support researchers following the Alberta Plan, a 12-step guide co-authored by Mr. Sutton aimed at achieving human-level artificial intelligence (AI).
In 2022, Canada barred Huawei from participating in the construction of its 5G wireless infrastructure, in line with actions taken by its Five Eyes intelligence allies due to shared national security concerns. Huawei is deeply linked with the Chinese military. Its founder, Ren Zhengfei, previously served as the director of an information engineering department within the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
In 2020, the Pentagon listed Huawei among 20 Chinese companies being backed by the Chinese military. In that same year, the U.S. government rolled out similar measures to keep Hauwei out of its critical telecommunications infrastructure.
On Sept. 25, the House of Commons science committee heard testimonies from a China expert on the significant risks of Canadian universities and research institutes’ partnership with Chinese military-backed entities like Huawei. Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, a senior fellow at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs of the University of Ottawa, specifically named Huawei as among several Chinese companies that have worked with the Chinese military “which also design and sell equipment to repress the Uyghurs and others.”
The Epoch Times reached out to both Mr. Sutton and Huawei Canada for comment but didn’t receive a response by publication time.
Randy Goebel, a professor in the University of Alberta’s computer science department slated to serve on Openmind’s governing board, alluded to geopolitics and criticized the United States in his response to The Epoch Times.
The challenge with interested media this days is that the typical AI research story is deeply driven by geo-political paranoia, so I’m not sure how to convey the high road intent of Openmind’s research mandate?” he said in an email statement on Nov. 24.
He further stated, “The reality of security concerns is that the [United States] is one of the nations most prone to spying, and is hypocritically critical of anyone’s involvement with anyone from China, individuals, or organizations. Canadian politicians find it easy to capitulate, even without any understanding.”
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