Cohere buys Aleph Alpha

Cohere said on April 24 it plans to acquire Germany’s Aleph Alpha and build a combined company focused on “sovereign AI” for governments and regulated industries. (businesswire.com) (cnbc.com) The companies did not disclose a purchase price, and the deal still needs shareholder and regulatory approval. Schwarz Group said its companies will commit $600 million, or €500 million, in structured financing to lead Cohere’s next Series E round. (businesswire.com) (cnbc.com) Reuters reported Cohere shareholders are set to receive about 90% of the combined company, with Aleph Alpha shareholders receiving about 10%. BetaKit reported the merged business will keep the Cohere name, with Aidan Gomez staying on as chief executive and Toronto serving as global headquarters while Germany becomes the European headquarters. (reuters.com) (betakit.com) “Sovereign AI” is the pitch behind the deal: companies and governments want artificial intelligence systems they can host, govern, and audit under local laws instead of relying on a single foreign provider. Cohere and Aleph Alpha said the combined business will target sectors including public services, finance, defense, energy, telecoms, manufacturing, and healthcare. (businesswire.com) (cnbc.com) Aleph Alpha gives Cohere a faster route into Europe’s biggest economy and into existing German public-sector contracts. CNBC reported Aleph Alpha works with Germany’s ministry for digital affairs and state modernization and with the Baden-Württemberg regional government. (cnbc.com) The transaction also lands as European officials push harder for local control over critical technology. Reuters reported Canada’s digital minister Evan Solomon called the merger part of a broader sovereign artificial intelligence push, while German minister Karsten Wildberger said Germany was open to more alliances after a Canada-Germany Sovereign Technology Alliance earlier this year. (reuters.com) Cohere and Aleph Alpha are not approaching this from identical positions. Cohere has raised about $1.6 billion and was valued at $7 billion in 2025, CNBC reported, while Reuters said Aleph Alpha was once cast as Germany’s answer to OpenAI before shifting away from building large language models toward specialized business applications. (cnbc.com) (reuters.com) Other outlets said the combined company is being framed at roughly a $20 billion valuation, but that figure was not disclosed by the companies themselves. What the companies did say is simpler: they want a Canada-Germany artificial intelligence supplier whose selling point is that customers keep control of their data, rules, and infrastructure. (betakit.com) (businesswire.com)