They helped pioneer deep learning in Canada. Now they’re building AI to replace CEOs

The Montréal and Kitchener-Waterloo deep learning research lab Maluuba was a frontrunner in Canada’s AI research ecosystem when it was acquired by Microsoft in 2017 , years before the AI gold rush. In 2026, many of the deep learning problems the team worked on now underpin the large language models (LLMs) that fuel the inescapable AI boom . Now, two of the co-founders are back with another early bet on a slightly different frontier technology.