Canadian AI firm Cohere and Germany’s Aleph Alpha have finalized a definitive business combination agreement, establishing the first transatlantic venture dedicated to sovereign artificial intelligence. The deal, which aims to provide highly regulated industries and government bodies with secure, controllable technology, is expected to close later this year pending regulatory approvals.
The unified company will operate globally under the Cohere brand, maintaining a dual-headquarters strategy with primary hubs in Toronto and Berlin. By integrating Aleph Alpha’s research expertise with Cohere’s enterprise-grade deployment capabilities, the entity plans to scale its workforce to over 1,000 employees. The Heidelberg office will remain a central node for the company’s ongoing research and development efforts.
Leadership changes will accompany the merger to support this expanded footprint. Ilhan Scheer, currently Co-CEO of Aleph Alpha, is set to become Chief Operating Officer, overseeing the global operating model. Samuel Weinbach, co-founder of Aleph Alpha, will step into the role of Chief Research Officer to steer the company’s technological roadmap, including advancements in tokenization and explainability.
A key pillar of the partnership involves deepening collaboration with the Schwarz Group. The combined entity will utilize STACKIT, the sovereign cloud service from Schwarz Digits, to ensure that organizations can access high-performance AI tools without compromising on data security or jurisdictional independence. This alignment addresses a growing demand for frontier AI models that comply with the strict regulatory frameworks of both Canada and the European Union.
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