Thales invests in Canadian startup, AI Redefined (AIR)
Thales today announces that it has invested in the Canadian startup AI Redefined (AIR), which has created a new AI training capability where humans and machines learn continuously from each other to address sophisticated challenges in real time.
AIR took part in the inaugural cohort of Thales’ AI@Centech startup acceleration program in 2019. During the 6-month program, AIR benefited from Thales’ AI expertise, its global commercial network and projects, and its orchestration framework for the deployment and operation of multi-agent AI systems.
AI can self-learn, but human-machine teaming combines the benefits of humans and AIs and reliably outperforms human-only or AI-only teams. In 2019, AIR launched COGMENT, the world’s first open-source framework to provide the means to design, train, and deploy complex intelligence ecosystems that mix humans and AI agents of various kinds.
In COGMENT’s real-world and simulated environments, actors (humans, AI agents, traditional algorithms, or even aggregates of AI agents) can explore context together and build trust, which aligns well with Thales’ transparent, understandable and ethical (TrUE) AI approach to developing AI capabilities.
This investment demonstrates Thales’ enduring commitment to drive Canadian innovation in the Key Industrial Capability of AI, an emerging technology that Thales will continue to support for current and future Industrial and Technological Benefits obligations incurred on Canadian defence projects.
Over the last five years, Thales has invested more than €7 billion in four key digital technologies: connectivity, Big Data, AI and cybersecurity. It has over 200 AI experts based in Montreal and Paris, and Montreal is home to one of three Thales Digital Factories, an AI hub that develops functions for Thales solutions worldwide.
“We are committed to collaboration with Canadian startups and small and medium-sized businesses to accelerate the commercialization of AI in the critical markets that Thales serves. We look forward to helping AIR realize its full potential as an AI champion at the forefront of human-machine teaming. And we’re excited to work together in advancing Thales’ bold vision for TrUE AI in critical systems, and in building a future we can all trust.” - Siegfried Usal, VP, Digital Innovation, Thales North America.
"AI Redefined is delighted to have Thales as a customer, strategic partner, and investor. We look forward to a shared future of building software products that place human elements like contextual knowledge, compliance, and responsibility at the center of AI training. Thales' commitment to selling complex systems that incorporate human-AI interaction, or what we've dubbed 'steerable AI,' makes me more comfortable about AI's future trajectory." - G. Craig Vachon, CEO, AIR.