Cohere signs deal to combine with Germany’s Aleph Alpha
The merged company will trade as Cohere from bases in Toronto and Berlin, giving public-sector and regulated buyers a larger sovereign AI supplier outside the US
- Cohere says it will be the first foundational model developer anchored on both sides of the Atlantic to deliver AI aligned with the sovereignty requirements of both Canada and Germany.
- The combined company will operate under the legal and regulatory frameworks of both countries, including rules on handling sensitive data and technology.
- Aleph Alpha co-CEO Ilhan Scheer said the company had spent the past 12 months sharpening its focus on specialized language models for governments and regulated industries.
Public-sector and regulated buyers looking for a non-US model supplier gain a stronger option, but nothing to buy differently until the deal closes. Organizations already using Aleph Alpha should ask now about product continuity, support terms and contract assignment. For new procurements, keep Cohere on the list and ask directly about UK data residency, since the sovereignty pitch is framed around Canada and Germany rather than the UK.
“No government or enterprise should have to choose between capable AI and control over their technology”Aidan Gomez, co-founder and chief executive, Cohere
Cohere said on 16 September 2026 that it has signed a definitive business combination agreement with Aleph Alpha, the German AI model developer. The combined company will operate globally as Cohere and, according to Cohere, will employ more than 1,000 people across Canada and Europe.
The agreement follows a planned partnership the two companies announced in April. Cohere plans headquarters in both Berlin and Toronto, and Aleph Alpha’s Heidelberg office will become a research center. Once the deal closes, Aleph Alpha co-CEO Ilhan Scheer becomes Cohere’s chief operating officer and co-founder Samuel Weinbach its chief research officer. Closing is expected later in 2026, subject to regulatory approval.
Cohere also says it will extend its partnership with Schwarz Group to deliver sovereign AI on Stackit, the Schwarz Digits sovereign cloud. Cohere’s announcement gives no financial terms. ITPro reported that the pair put the combined valuation at around $20bn (£15.1bn), and that Schwarz is believed to be investing around $600m (£453m) in the new entity.
