Google Gives University of Toronto $10M for New AI Role in Geoffrey Hinton's Name

Google has pledged $10 million to the University of Toronto to establish a prestigious new research position honoring Geoffrey Hinton, the pioneering computer scientist widely known as the "Godfather of AI."

The Hinton Chair in Artificial Intelligence will recruit a world-class AI researcher to lead a scientific group with a $20 million budget—half funded by Google's contribution. The announcement came Wednesday evening at the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS) in San Diego, one of the world's premier AI research conferences.

The holder of the new Hinton Chair will work to drive AI breakthroughs and apply the technology to critical areas including medicine, engineering, and scientific discoveries. The position represents one of the most significant academic AI roles globally, both in terms of funding and symbolic importance.

University of Toronto officials emphasized that the chair will focus on practical applications of AI research that can benefit society, aligning with Hinton's own career trajectory of bridging theoretical breakthroughs with real-world impact.

Geoffrey Hinton revolutionized artificial intelligence through his pioneering work on deep learning and neural networks—the foundational technologies powering today's AI systems from ChatGPT to self-driving cars. He spent decades at the University of Toronto before joining Google in 2013, where he continued his research until leaving in 2023.

Hinton left Google to speak more freely about AI's potential dangers, becoming an outspoken advocate for responsible AI development. Despite his concerns about the technology's risks, he remains committed to advancing AI research for beneficial purposes.

The $20 million investment—with Google covering half—demonstrates both the tech industry's commitment to academic AI research and the University of Toronto's position as a global AI powerhouse. The university has produced numerous AI leaders and breakthrough technologies, largely due to Hinton's influence over decades of teaching and research.

By naming the chair after Hinton, Google and U of T signal their commitment to the kind of fundamental, curiosity-driven research that led to deep learning's development—work that initially seemed purely theoretical but ultimately transformed the entire tech industry.

The University of Toronto has established itself as one of the world's leading AI research centers, attracting top talent and producing groundbreaking research. The Hinton Chair will further cement this reputation while ensuring Hinton's approach to AI research—combining theoretical rigor with practical applications—continues influencing the next generation of researchers.

As AI technology becomes increasingly powerful and commercially valuable, investments like this preserve space for fundamental research focused on scientific advancement and societal benefit rather than purely commercial applications.