Cohere CEO negotiating with hackers
Cohere’s U.S. CEO was publicly negotiating with hackers after an X account breach, a security incident that was widely reported (hindustantimes.com). The episode surfaced enterprise risk exposure at a company that’s still scaling enterprise positioning and could accelerate interest in hardened on‑prem or managed stacks.
The viral negotiation involved Adaption Labs CEO Sara Hooker — not Cohere’s leadership — who posted a screenshot of back-and-forth messages after her company’s official X account was taken over. (hindustantimes.com) Hooker said she offered the attackers $500 for return of the account and that the intruders countered with $3,000, a price exchange visible in the shared screenshot. (hindustantimes.com) Hooker also complained that X’s support was unresponsive during the takeover, writing that “Support doesn’t exist” and asking followers to ignore posts from the compromised corporate account. (hindustantimes.com) Sara Hooker is a former Cohere research lead and Google Brain alum who founded Adaption Labs and closed a reported $50 million seed round for the startup in February 2026. (observer.com) The episode was picked up by international outlets within 24–48 hours, including the Hindustan Times and American Bazaar Online, which reproduced Hooker’s screenshot and commentary. (hindustantimes.com) Hooker’s public account of the incident followed her recent appearance at India’s AI Impact Summit, a trip several outlets noted while reporting the X-breach screenshots. (indianexpress.com)
