Scale AI, Element AI, Mila: The Who Is Who of Quebec AI

You keep hearing names that come back: Mila, Scale AI, Element AI. Are they companies? Universities? Cults? I’ll explain them like you’re at a party and someone says “oh, you work at Mila? Cool, explain what that is.”

Mila: The lab where the magic happens

Mila is the AI Research Lab. Founded in 2017, led by Yoshua Bengio (yes, that guy), it lives at the Université de Montréal but isn’t directly “the university.”

Think of it as a research temple. Researchers from around the world come here. Google, Meta, Microsoft fund them. But it’s not a company — it’s a public lab working on foundational problems in deep learning.

That’s where the real ideas are born. Not products — the ideas that will change the game in 5-10 years.

Element AI: The child that grew up too fast

Element AI was founded in 2016 by people from Mila. It was a startup that sold real AI for real businesses — not just research.

They raised cash quickly, launched products, attracted investors. But after a few years, they were acquired by ServiceTitan (an American software company). So technically? No longer an independent Quebec startup. But the AI team remains in Montreal.

Element’s story? It’s the typical Quebec tech story: excellent researchers, promising products, acquired by the Americans.

Scale AI: The matchmaker

Scale AI is an accelerator. They look for promising AI startups and say “we’ll give you cash, offices, contacts, and you’ll become giants.”

Are they an AI company? No. Are they crucial? Absolutely. Without Scale AI, half of Quebec’s AI startups wouldn’t exist.

They’re the wind under the wings. Not the pilot — but without the wind, the pilot crashes.

The rest of the Who’s Who

After that? Dozens of startups. Labs at Polytechnique. Teams in universities. Older companies starting to do AI (Intact, for example).

But honestly? If you understand Mila, Element, and Scale AI, you understand 80% of what’s happening in Quebec AI. They’re the three amigos the whole world watches.

Why should you know them?

Because if you work in tech, you’ll run into these names. Because if you want to invest, launch a startup, or just understand the context, this is the foundation.

And also? Because being proud of “our” AI ecosystem is a bit weird if you can’t name the three biggest pieces of the puzzle.

Want to explore the Quebec AI ecosystem further? Sherpa is your friend, or go deeper with Laeka Research.