Mozilla and Mila announce strategic research partnership to advance open source and sovereign AI capabilities 

The future of AI should belong to all of humanity, well beyond a handful of countries or companies. For that to happen, AI needs to be open, trusted, and built in ways that give people, institutions, and nations real choices. That’s why, today, Mozilla is announcing a strategic partnership with Mila – Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute to advance open source and sovereign AI capabilities.

This partnership marks a landmark strategic collaboration for both organizations and Mozilla’s first-ever partnership with a major AI research lab. It is designed to grow over time, with an inaugural project that focuses on the intersection of trust and usability, including private memory architectures for AI agents.

Mila brings world-class research depth and a proven track record moving ideas into systems — from fundamental breakthroughs to applied tools and the diffusion of technology. Mozilla brings deep open source experience, a vibrant developer community, and the ecosystem instincts needed to turn research into something that spreads. The partnership is designed to show that open source AI can close the gap between cutting-edge research and real-world impact. 

As we saw in the web era, having a robust open source software stack can democratize and accelerate innovation in dramatic ways. The same opportunity exists in AI — across compute, models, data, and developer experience — and much of the stack is already being built in the open. But gaps remain, particularly in the layers that determine whether AI is trustworthy, private, and built for a world with many languages, many cultures, and many legitimate ways of organizing society. If we can close  those gaps,  open source AI becomes a genuine option for the people and institutions that need it most.

“We are working to build a future where AI development is rooted in openness, privacy, and humanity,” said Mark Surman, president of Mozilla. “This partnership is a delivery vehicle for that vision — and for breakthroughs that will help governments, developers, and companies alike. Canada can lead on AI sovereignty; we’re joining with Mila to make it happen.”

“Canada has what it takes to lead on frontier AI that the world can actually trust: the research depth, the values, and the will to do it differently. The next frontier in AI isn’t just capability, it is trustworthiness, and Canada is uniquely positioned to lead on both. This partnership is a concrete step in that direction. Open, trustworthy AI isn’t a compromise on ambition. It’s the higher bar,” said Valérie Pisano, president and CEO of Mila.

Together, Mila and Mozilla will develop the technologies and approaches that reduce dependence on closed systems and create more room for transparency, accountability, and shared innovation. The partnership also lays the groundwork for middle-power cooperation in AI: Open source projects have consistently provided the framework for technical collaboration across geographies and jurisdictions. Both organizations welcome research institutions, developers, and like-minded organizations to help fill the stack.

This is the first of what both organizations intend to be a sustained and growing body of work. 

Read more about our Open Source AI Strategy here. Learn more about Mila here.