The Signal Insight
Cohere’s valuation shot up from $7 billion a year ago to $20 billion after the Canadian builder of AI models for enterprises and governments combined with Germany’s Aleph Alpha this April.
asserted
builder → shoot → Alpha
That still makes it a minnow compared to the lavishly funded giants of Silicon Valley or leading Chinese model makers like DeepSeek and Moonshot.
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it → make → DeepSeek
But Cohere Co-Founder and CEO Aidan Gomez believes he can compete on the global stage without outspending them.
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he → believe → them
Business leaders are waking up to the risk of becoming caught in the geopolitical crossfire between the US and China, as some were when Washington imposed export controls on Anthropic’s Mythos AI model in June.
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Washington → wake → June
Cohere offers an alternative that, he says, can make companies’ technology supply chains more resilient while giving them “AI sovereignty,” or full control over their AI infrastructure.
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chains → offer → infrastructure
Executives now worry as much about control as they do about the cost or power of the models they deploy, Gomez says, so competing in AI is not just about “building the biggest model or spending the most money.”
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competing → worry → money
Once a customer deploys Cohere’s software, “We can’t see in.
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We → deploy → software
We can’t switch it off.
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We → switch → it
We can’t intervene in any way,” he says.
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he → intervene → way
Skeptics see sovereign AI as a pipe dream, arguing that it will be prohibitively expensive to duplicate US and Chinese technology.
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it → see → technology
Gomez says companies cannot ignore the idea.
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companies → say → idea
“We’re entering into a period of great geopolitical change and uncertainty, and we’re seeing sovereignty be threatened all over the world, so it’s no longer a potential risk that you need to plan for.
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you → enter → that
It is a present-day risk that is unfolding in front of us,” he says.
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he → unfold → us
Sovereignty should not mean that everybody builds a copy of everything, he clarifies, as that would be “extraordinarily inefficient.”
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that → mean → everything
But he argues that CEOs should diversify their AI suppliers to avoid “single points of failure” or reliance on technology from authoritarian countries.
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CEOs → argue → countries
One recent analysis estimated that up to 40% of AI spending could be influenced by sovereignty requirements by 2030.
uncertain
% → estimate → 2030
Cohere this week released an IDC study of executives in four countries, which shows that most believe that AI sovereignty is important, but few can define it or have a firm plan for achieving it.
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few → release → it
Here’s how Gomez describes the concept, why he thinks CEOs should care about it, and why he sees it as a matter of democratic resilience.
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he → ’ → resilience
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
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interview → edit → clarity
How do you define Cohere’s place in the AI ecosystem?
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you → define → ecosystem
Our objective is to strengthen the sovereignty of nations that are looking to adopt AI.
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that → strengthen → AI
We focus on critical industries, like telecoms, financial services, healthcare, the grid, and water treatment, and we really want to strengthen democratic leadership in AI on the global stage.
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we → focus → stage
It shouldn’t just be the US doing this incredibly transformational technology; we need to ensure that more democracies are building these capabilities and providing a robust and resilient supply chain around the world.
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democracies → do → world
Are you finding it easier or harder to get the attention of big global companies, because of your positioning outside the China-US duopoly in AI?
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it → find → AI
It’s much easier.
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It → ’ → ?
There’s a very intense push [by companies] globally right now to diversify supply chains and boost resilience, and to take control over their sovereignty in technology, and we’re the ones that do that.
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that → ’ → that
We believe you can’t rent your sovereignty from someone.
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you → believe → someone
You need to own it.
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You → need → it
This year, we have seen a very steep rise in outreach.
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we → see → outreach
So what analysis should CEOs be doing right now of the AI tools they’re using?
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they → do → tools
I think, for democratically aligned nations, relying on tools from authoritarian states is a core risk, and should not be done.
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relying → think → states
But beyond that, I think that they should be considering how concentrated their supply chains are, and planning for the risks of losing access or having services disrupted.
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services → think → access
They should be actively engineering systems that are resilient and robust for those sorts of events.
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that → engineer → events
Do you think this technology embeds existing corporate power or challenges it?
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technology → think → it
It’s very supportive of creative destruction.
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It → ’ → destruction
It’s much more of an equalizing force than it is a force that entrenches power.
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that → ’ → power
You can see that with studies that show when you give an employee base access to AI agents, the average moves up substantially, but the lower end of the performance curve benefits the most.
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end → see → curve
They move up way further than the people at the top.
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They → move → top
Is that one of the things that gives you hope that a Canadian company can compete?
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company → give → hope
I think so.
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I → think → ?
…and 17 more, not listed.
The Aporia
