Aleph Alpha to be acquired by Cohere

German AI startup Aleph Alpha is to be acquired by Canadian AI lab Cohere, creating a business that will position itself as a sovereign alternative to US AI labs.

Cohere, founded in 2019 and valued at $7bn in 2025, builds AI models focused on the enterprise market.

Germany's Aleph Alpha, founded in 2019, was originally one of the few European LLM (Large Language Model) startups, but has since pivoted from building LLMs to helping businesses and governments use AI.

The new combined entity will look to position itself as a sovereign alternative to US AI labs like OpenAI and Anthropic, that will offer AI services to European businesses and government agencies that want control of their data and infrastructure.

The new combined entity is valued at around $20bn, as has been reported. Financial details of the deal, which has not closed, have not been disclosed.

The deal will see Schwarz Group, which owns supermarket chain Lidl and is a major Aleph Alpha shareholder, invest $600 million into Cohere's upcoming funding round, the companies said, according to Reuters.

"We are bringing Aleph Alpha into Cohere, and we are going to merge the two entities," Cohere CFO Francois Chadwick told Reuters.

"We are going to commit to working with European infrastructure ... and maintain the sovereignty requirements that are being addressed in Europe."

Cohere's shareholders are set to receive around 90 per of the shares in the combined company, whilst Aleph Alpha's shareholders will receive around 10 per cent, according to German media. The deal has been endorsed by both the German and Canadian governments. 

Aleph Alpha co-CEO Ilhan Scheer said: “Aleph Alpha is in a unique position in Europe, We develop specialised large language models for Europe without compromising on sovereignty, transparency and regulatory compliance. 

“By living this responsibility, we serve as a trusted and strategic partner to public sector and enterprise customers in Europe. 

“Together with Cohere, we are building a real counterweight for organisations that refuse to outsource control over their AI to a single provider or jurisdiction, giving European institutions and enterprises access to powerful, yet controllable AI they can truly own.”

Aidan Gomez, Co-founder and CEO, Cohere said: “Combining the strengths of Cohere and Aleph Alpha accelerates our global expansion and advances our mission to deliver sovereign AI to nations around the world.

“Organisations globally are demanding uncompromising control over their AI stack. This transatlantic partnership unlocks the massive scale, robust infrastructure, and world-class R&D talent required to meet that demand. 

“Built on the bedrock of shared Canadian and German values—where privacy, security, and responsible innovation are paramount—we are uniquely positioned to be the world's trusted AI partner.

"Together, we will give enterprises and governments across Canada, Europe, and the world the technology to move from exploration to rapid, secure implementation, with the absolute certainty that their data remains their own.”