UNFORGETTABLE SAGAS, SCOOPS AND SCANDALS
 from Toronto Life’slong-form archives

Dear Reader,

Despite industry-wide layoffs, Toronto’s tech scene is booming, making good on the nickname Silicon Valley North. Last spring, the New York Times declared our city the fastest-growing tech hub in North America. Once plagued by brain drain, Toronto is retaining homegrown talent and—thanks to cutting-edge research labs, smart investments from businesses and governments, and liberal immigration laws—attracting whizzes from around the world. This week, we explore the remarkable innovation in our midst, from groundbreaking research in AI and autonomous vehicles to the constellation of start-ups vying for unicorn status.

Mr. Robot

Geoffrey Hinton spent 30 years hammering away at an idea that most other scientists dismissed as nonsense. Then, he was proven right. Canada’s most influential thinker in the field of artificial intelligence is far too classy to say I told you so

BY KATRINA ONSTAD | JANUARY 29, 2018

Geoffrey Hinton’s once controversial notion that computers could behave like the human brain—linked through neural networks—became the groundwork for machine learning. Dozens of the computer scientist’s students have since risen to prominence at Facebook, Google, Apple and Uber, as well as in academia, spreading the neural net gospel and forming their own living, pinging network of Hinton disciples. In this extraordinary profile of Toronto’s godfather of AI, Katrina Onstad invites us inside Hinton’s brilliant mind and influential orbit.

Animal House

After landing a lucrative job at a tech start-up, I embraced the office culture wholesale: the lingo, ping-pong tables, tropical retreats, stock options and virtuous mission statements. Then I realized I had made a terrible mistake

BY MARK PUPO | DECEMBER 10, 2018

When Mark Pupo joined Toronto’s rapidly expanding start-up workforce, he entered a parallel universe of beer carts and beanbags, sleepless nights and six-figure commissions. But, despite appearances, the bro-ish playground culture is far from carefree, and Pupo’s often hilarious confessional revealed some hard truths about the shiny industry. “Here was the biggest surprise about working in tech: no one loves the start-up they work for,” he wrote. “No one feels secure. No one is loyal. And there’s no certainty your company will exist in a year—or next week.”

How to Build a Driverless Car

Uber has hired the world’s top AI experts to design self-driving vehicles in Toronto. They have big plans to revolutionize the way we live and move

BY JASON MCBRIDE | MAY 13, 2019

As the head of Uber’s self-driving transportation lab, Raquel Urtasun is making the dream of autonomous vehicles a reality. The Toronto research centre is Uber’s only autonomous lab outside the US and the only one dedicated expressly to building the “brain” for the business’s self-driving fleet. The immensely complex problem, when finally solved, will transform how we move, work, live and play. And, according to Urtasun, self-driving at scale—that is, where the tech is affordable and safe for everyone to use—could be less than a decade away. This feature by Jason McBride explores the fascinating intellectual and ethical dilemmas that come with this futuristic trip.

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