IVADO’s Most Significant Mission to the United States: A Delegation to Princeton and New York to Strengthen AI Research Collaborations

Montreal, May 19, 2026 — A delegation of some twenty IVADO researchers travelled to the U.S. East Coast from March 23 to 25, 2026, to meet with several leading organizations sharing common interests with IVADO in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). The mission aimed to showcase the consortium’s expertise and activities, while strengthening scientific collaborations and developing new strategic research partnerships. 

Led by Luc Vinet, Executive Director of IVADO, the delegation brought together specialists from several AI-related disciplines representing the consortium’s major partner institutions: Université de Montréal, Polytechnique Montréal, HEC Montréal, Université Laval, and McGill University. 

Over three days, the delegation met with leadership and research teams from Princeton, Columbia, NYU, and Cornell Tech. Discussions covered several strategic areas, including neuroscience, large language models, multi-agent systems, as well as issues related to safety, governance, and trustworthy AI. 

At Princeton, the delegation met with some thirty researchers from the Princeton AI Lab and affiliated laboratories. These exchanges helped initiate the development of new joint research projects involving students from the various institutions, as well as laying the groundwork for scientific workshops to be held in the coming months. 

The visit to Columbia University was marked by substantive discussions with researchers from the Data Science Institute and the AI Institute for Artificial and Natural Intelligence (ARNI) of the National Science Foundation (NSF), particularly around issues of AI system safety and reliability. 

The mission concluded at Cornell Tech with exchanges among AI specialists in governance and data science, notably as applied to health and urban systems. 

Alongside the university visits, the delegation met with industry partners, including Hypertec Group, as well as Canada’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, the Honourable David Lametti, who has a particular interest in IVADO’s work on AI governance. 

The broad participation of IVADO’s research community in this mission demonstrated the importance of building and maintaining relationships with researchers at major research institutions and of supporting science diplomacy — particularly in a context where relations with the United States can prove complex. 

“This important mission reflects the maturity and reach of Quebec’s AI ecosystem. Our exchanges with American partners helped identify shared priorities and pave the way for concrete collaborations in research, training, and innovation. By strengthening these ties, we are contributing to the advancement of cutting-edge, responsible AI aligned with the major challenges facing society, offering the best of ourselves and joining forces with the world’s leading researchers,” said Luc Vinet, Executive Director of IVADO. 

The mission took place against a tragic backdrop, marked by an accident involving an Air Canada flight in New York. Three of our colleagues were on board and fortunately escaped unharmed, despite the trauma experienced. Our thoughts go out to all those affected. 

IVADO warmly thanks all partner institutions and hosts for their welcome and commitment, as well as everyone who contributed to the success of this mission, which represents an important step in the development of the consortium’s international collaborations.