Cohere negotiates to secure up to $1 billion in funding amid intensifying AI competition

Cohere, an artificial intelligence start-up, is currently in discussions to secure up to $1 billion in a new funding round, signaling strong investor interest in large language models akin to those developed by Microsoft-supported OpenAI. While the exact valuation and fundraising goal are not finalized, this amount exceeds Cohere’s total funding to date and would significantly increase its value from the $2.2 billion marked in June 2023. Founded by former Google scientists and celebrated for making critical advances in computer text analysis, Cohere targets enterprise customers with its large language model, focusing on lower-cost development compared to more generalized models like OpenAI’s offerings. This fundraising campaign will test investors’ continued willingness to invest in AI at elevated valuations. Cohere aims to offer neutral, non-cloud-tied AI solutions for enterprise usage, differentiating itself from competitors OpenAI and Anthropic, which have garnered interest and significant valuations from major tech company partnerships.