SIF Contribution - A $30 Million Investment in Canada’s Future
Sanctuary is pleased to announce that we are the recipient of a $30 million Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) contribution from the Government of Canada. The contribution brings our total funding to over $100 million, helping fuel our mission to create the world’s first human-like intelligence in general-purpose robots. As we drive towards mission success, we will deliver technology that helps Canadians work more safely, efficiently, and sustainably. We will create new, desirable, high-paying jobs, and help solve labor challenges faced by many businesses. We are honored by this recognition from the Government of Canada and consider the SIF contribution to be a mark of support for the Canadian robotics and AI community as a whole.
Today’s robotics and AI technologies are typically limited to solving very specific problems. But as so many of us have witnessed, our business landscape is quickly changing, and with it, the nature of work. As work changes, robots need to be able to adapt to these changes to maintain or increase their value. As it currently stands, robots are not smart enough to adapt in this way. Dumb robots quickly lose their value and end up collecting dust, never delivering on their potential.
To be broadly useful, a category shift in robotics and AI innovation is needed. A new kind of machine must be built. This new general-purpose technology must be able to learn to perform new work tasks in dynamic, quickly-changing environments. This requires solving two long standing scientific grand challenges: building AI that understands and acts on the world like we do, and robotic systems that have the necessary form and function for work. That is what we are creating: human-like intelligence in general-purpose robots that can work and adapt as we do.
We’ve listened to many voices of concern over what our future will look like as birth rates continue to decline, our population ages, people choose not to do certain types of work, and job openings remain unfilled. Labor shortages are, and will increasingly become, a major problem for all of us. I am confident we can solve this problem, and by doing so contribute a new type of technology to Canada and the world. Sanctuary technology can help fill jobs that otherwise would remain vacant, empower those less capable of physical work, create new jobs that better meet the changing priorities of the workforce, and make it possible for existing jobs to be performed remotely, reducing the need for travel and on-site work.
Creating an entirely new category of technology is an ambitious and difficult goal. But the more support we have, the smoother our path becomes. The $30 million SIF contribution is going to increase our ability to reach our mission faster, which means we will be able to help Canadians from coast to coast to coast faster.
The mission Sanctuary is on will create a better future for all of us. We are on the cusp of a new era in technology and innovation with benefits that will impact every one of us for generations to come. I don’t view our SIF contribution as just an investment in Sanctuary, but rather as an investment in the future of society. The impacts of our work will help our economy prosper and businesses sustain their operations, improve the lives of our workers, and create new jobs for Canadians across virtually all industries.
Geordie Rose
Co-Founder and former CEO
Sanctuary
Sanctuary is on a mission to create the world’s first human-like intelligence in general-purpose robots that will help us work more safely, efficiently, and sustainably, helping to address the labor challenges facing many organizations today. Sanctuary's growing list of customers and investors represents a wide variety of industries across Canada, the U.S., and other countries around the world.
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