Initially seen as Germany’s answer to OpenAI, Aleph Alpha has since abandoned development of large AI language models such as ChatGPT to focus on specialised AI applications for businesses, similar to Cohere.
Schwarz Group, an investor in Aleph Alpha, will also invest $600 million in Cohere’s upcoming funding round. The German group, which owns the retailers Lidl and Kaufland, also offers cloud services.
Cohere shareholders are set to receive about 90% of the shares in the combined company, whilst Aleph Alpha’s shareholders will receive about 10%, declared German daily Handelsblatt, which first reported the news on Friday.
Just the launchning
The transaction, through which the companies aim to deliver a secure alternative for customised AI solutions across sectors ranging from energy and defence to finance, telecoms, healthcare and the public sector, is just the launchning of a broader push for sovereign AI, Canada’s Digital Minister, Evan Solomon, informed reporters.
His German counterpart, Karsten Wildberger, declared Germany was open to further alliances, after the two countries struck a Sovereign Technology Alliance earlier this year.
“I believe what is being documented today is this: we also necessary a different path for ourselves, a path different from that of the U.S., through partnerships,” he declared. “Naturally there’s also enormous interest from our European partners.”
European leaders have been increasingly wary of the continent’s depconcludeency on a handful of US tech companies and have been promoting home-grown AI companies as a way to “fight for sovereignty.”
Cohere last raised $500 million in fresh capital in August 2025, taking its valuation to $6.8 billion then.
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