University of Toronto to create AI role named after tech pioneer Geoffrey Hinton

The University of Toronto says it’s on the hunt for the next Geoffrey Hinton.

The school says it will create a new chair role named after the Nobel laureate and artificial intelligence pioneer.

The Hinton Chair in Artificial Intelligence will help the university recruit, teach and train students and inspire promising AI startups.

They will also help fuel AI innovations across medicine, engineering, scientific discovery and the humanities and expand the university’s AI networks and international partnerships.

UofT says the new role will be supported by a $10 million donation from Google that the school will match.

Hinton, who is a professor emeritus at UofT, worked for Google until May 2023. He quit so he could discuss the dangers of AI without having to consider how his remarks would impact Google.

Hinton said in a statement that “real breakthroughs” often come from researchers who are given the freedom to explore seemingly eccentric or unlikely ideas.

“Google’s generosity in funding this chair ensures that the University of Toronto’s department of computer science can continue to support exactly that kind of curiosity-driven inquiry,” he said.

“My hope is that this position allows future researchers to follow their own questions wherever they may lead, because that is how true discovery happens.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2025.

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press