Canada-based Cohere and Germany-based Aleph Alpha are in discussions regarding a potential merger.

Merger talks began earlier this year and are now understood to be in the advanced stages. The company's plan for the new entity to be headquartered in both countries, Handelsblatt (newspaper) and Reuters reported.

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Both Cohere and Aleph Alpha are understood to have the support of Berlin on the deal, as the German government would be interested in becoming a "key customer” of the combined company.

German Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger told Handelsblatt that both Germany and Canada are working together closely in the digital space and that leading AI companies joining together would send "a very strong signal."

Aleph Alpha told Reuters that it routinely holds discussions about potential strategic partnerships, as is common across the AI sector, and emphasized that it maintains an independent strategy. The company did not provide further comment.

Cohere stated it engages with a range of companies and institutions throughout Germany and Europe and is continuously assessing strategic opportunities that align with its international growth plans.

Last month, Cohere announced a strategic partnership with Saab through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to advance artificial intelligence technologies. The collaboration is poised to enhance Saab’s GlobalEye program in Canada, while also benefiting international operators of the system.

In February, Cohere announced that the company was expanding its platform with SAP to deliver full-stack sovereign AI solutions worldwide, starting in Canada. This collaboration builds on their previous integration of Cohere’s AI models into SAP’s EU AI Cloud, aiming to provide secure and scalable AI solutions tailored for global enterprises.

Founded in 2019, Cohere specializes in Large Language Models (LLMs) and generative AI with a specific focus on serving the enterprise market. The company builds AI technology tailored for businesses, focusing on security, data privacy and customizability.

Aleph Alpha, also founded in 2019, specializes in developing sovereign, explainable and reliable LLMs and multimodal AI tailored for complex, mission-critical applications in regulated industries like public administration, defense, and manufacturing, its website states.

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