Cohere and Aleph Alpha in advanced AI merger talks with backing from German government

Canada's Cohere, Germany's Aleph Alpha in merger talks, Handelsblatt reports

FRANKFURT, April 10 (Reuters) - Artificial intelligence companies Cohere of Canada and Aleph Alpha of Germany are in talks to merge and have Berlin's support for a potential deal, newspaper Handelsblatt reported late on Thursday. Citing government and industry sources, the paper said that the German government would be willing to ⁠become a key customer of a combined company, part of a push to provide digital public services. "If leading AI companies from Canada and Germany were to join forces that would send a very strong signal," German Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger told the paper. Germany and Canada were already collaborating closely in ⁠the field, he was also quoted as saying. Aleph Alpha told Reuters that regular discussions over strategic partnerships were standard practice in the AI industry and that Aleph ⁠Alpha had its own independent strategy, declining to comment further. Cohere did not immediately respond to a request for ⁠comment. The paper added that talks started early this year and have reached an advanced stage, ⁠with plans for the new entity to be headquartered in both countries. Reporting by Ludwig Burger, Kirsti Knolle and Hakan Ersen, Editing by Linda Pasquini Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

AI Power Play: Cohere, Aleph Alpha In Advanced Merger Talks

Canada-based Cohere and Germany-based Aleph Alpha are in discussions regarding a potential merger. Merger talks began earlier this year and are now understood to be in the advanced stages. The company's plan for the new entity to be headquartered in both countries, Handelsblatt (newspaper) and Reuters reported. * Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 stock is showing positive momentum. What's ahead for QQQ stock? Both Cohere and Aleph Alpha are understood to have the support of Berlin on the deal, as the German government would be interested in becoming a "key customer" of the combined company. German Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger told Handelsblatt that both Germany and Canada are working together closely in the digital space and that leading AI companies joining together would send "a very strong signal." Aleph Alpha told Reuters that it routinely holds discussions about potential strategic partnerships, as is common across the AI sector, and emphasized that it maintains an independent strategy. The company did not provide further comment. Cohere stated it engages with a range of companies and institutions throughout Germany and Europe and is continuously assessing strategic opportunities that align with its international growth plans. Last month, Cohere announced a strategic partnership with Saab through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to advance artificial intelligence technologies. The collaboration is poised to enhance Saab's GlobalEye program in Canada, while also benefiting international operators of the system. Founded in 2019, Cohere specializes in Large Language Models (LLMs) and generative AI with a specific focus on serving the enterprise market. The company builds AI technology tailored for businesses, focusing on security, data privacy and customizability. Aleph Alpha, also founded in 2019, specializes in developing sovereign, explainable and reliable LLMs and multimodal AI tailored for complex, mission-critical applications in regulated industries like public administration, defense, and manufacturing, its website states. Photo: Shutterstock Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

Canada's Cohere, Germany's Aleph Alpha in merger talks, Handelsblatt reports

FRANKFURT -- Artificial intelligence companies Cohere of Canada and Aleph Alpha of Germany are in talks to merge and have Berlin's support for a potential deal, newspaper Handlesblatt reported late on Thursday. Citing government and industry sources, the paper said the German government would be willing to become a key customer of a combined company, part of a push to provide digital public services. "If leading AI companies from Canada and Germany were to join forces that would send a very strong signal," German Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger told the paper. Germany and Canada were already collaborating closely in the field, he was also quoted as saying. Aleph Alpha told Reuters that regular discussions over strategic partnerships were standard practice in the AI industry and that Aleph Alpha had its own independent strategy, declining to comment further. Cohere said it meets "with companies and institutions across Germany and Europe and continually evaluates strategic opportunities that support our global growth." It also pointed Reuters to its international expansion efforts as well as to the Canadian-German Sovereign Technology Alliance agreed this year, but would not comment further. Germany's research and digital ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Handelsblatt said merger talks started early this year and had reached an advanced stage, with plans for the new entity to be headquartered in both countries. Germany has been eager to catch up with dominant AI players the U.S. and China in a global race to master a transformational technology and attract high-income jobs. India has also emerged as a contender. Last month, Berlin unveiled plans to encourage investments to boost AI data processing capacity at least fourfold by 2030. Microsoft, which is collaborating with Cohere, unveiled US$23 billion in AI investments in December, with the bulk earmarked for India and parts for Canada. That was after Alphabet's Google said it would spend $15 billion over five years on an AI data center in India.