Canadian-German AI leader reaffirms commitment to invest in home countries Canada and Germany and provides unique governance safeguards tied to digital sovereignty.
TORONTO and HEIDELBERG, Germany, Sept. 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Cohere and Aleph Alpha, two established providers of secure, sovereign AI for governments and highly regulated industries, today announced the signing of a definitive business combination agreement, following the announcement of the planned combination in April of this year. Operating globally as Cohere, the unified company will effectively create the first transatlantic sovereign AI solution. The transaction remains subject to final regulatory approvals.
Commitment to Canada and Germany
The company will remain deeply rooted in both countries with headquarters, R&D centers, and leadership roles in Canada and Germany.
The company, operating globally as Cohere, will bring together deep research expertise, enterprise-grade solutions, and long-standing public sector partnerships across Canada and Europe. The transaction will increase Cohere's employee headcount to more than 1,000 across both continents, with plans for the company to be dual-headquartered in Berlin and in Toronto and to keep Aleph Alpha's Heidelberg office as a research center.
Agreement Brings New Cohere Leadership
As part of the combined company's next phase of growth, Cohere will expand its leadership team with two senior appointments effective upon deal close. Ilhan Scheer, currently Co-CEO of Aleph Alpha, will become Chief Operating Officer of Cohere, leading the company's global operating model and organizational scaling. He previously founded fable+, a data analytics and transformation company acquired by Accenture, where he went on to serve as Managing Director overseeing a global portfolio of enterprise transformation products, and is co-author of Decision Intelligence (Wiley).
Ilhan Scheer, Co-CEO, Aleph Alpha said: "Over the past twelve months, we have sharpened our focus on specialized language models for governments and regulated industries. Cohere is a strong strategic fit for this work, bringing global reach and deployment capabilities that complement our research expertise. Together, we can bring what our team has built to more organizations worldwide. This strengthens our ability to deliver on our mission: giving organizations control over the AI they rely on."
Samuel Weinbach, co-founder and Co-Chief Research Officer of Aleph Alpha, will become Chief Research Officer of Cohere, advancing the company's research and technological development. His scientific work spans tokenization, language model training, explainability, and image generation. Both appointments are contingent on completion of the transaction, which remains subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close later this year, with further integration and product details to follow.
Continued Commitment to Sovereignty
Cohere will become the first foundational model developer anchored on both sides of the Atlantic to deliver AI solutions aligned with the sovereignty requirements of both Canada and Germany.
The combined company will operate within the applicable legal and regulatory frameworks of both jurisdictions, including requirements governing the protection and handling of sensitive data and technology. Its structure incorporates safeguards and oversight mechanisms that reinforce operational control, accountability, and compliance across both markets.
"No government or enterprise should have to choose between capable AI and control over their technology," said Aidan Gomez, Co-founder and CEO, Cohere. "That belief is exactly why we're joining forces with Aleph Alpha to enhance the talent, infrastructure and institutional trust behind our mission. Together, we'll move faster to meet the rising global demand for frontier AI that's powerful enough to compete, but secure and governable enough to trust."
The company will also advance its partnership with the companies of Schwarz Group to deliver sovereign AI on STACKIT, Schwarz Digits sovereign cloud service and a cornerstone of Europe's digital sovereignty strategy.
Christian Müller, CEO, Schwarz Digits, said, "Digital sovereignty is not about going it alone, but about strategically joining forces. This transatlantic alliance represents a massive leap forward accelerating the development of an independent AI infrastructure. With the goal of establishing STACKIT as the technical backbone for sovereign AI solutions, we ensure organizations do not have to choose between high performance and digital independence. By partnering with those who uncompromisingly share our strict values and data security standards, we are sustainably strengthening the sovereign digital future of Europe and Canada."
For more information, please visit cohere.com and aleph-alpha.com.
About Cohere
Cohere, founded in 2019, is the world's leading sovereign AI company building foundation models and end-to-end AI products to solve real-world business problems. We partner with organizations to deliver seamless integration, deep customization, and user-friendly solutions. Our all-in-one platform provides maximum security, privacy, and deployment flexibility across clouds, private on-premises environments, and even fully air-gapped settings. Headquartered globally in Toronto, San Francisco, and Germany, Cohere operates additional offices in London, New York, Montreal, Paris, and Seoul, serving customers worldwide.
The company has raised ~$1.6BUSD from strategic tech investors (Nvidia, AMD Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Oracle, Cisco), institutional investors (Radical Ventures, Inovia Capital, PSP Investments, HOOPP, BDC, Nexxus), and AI pioneers including Geoffrey Hinton, Fei-Fei Li, Pieter Abbeel, and Raquel Urtasun. For more information, visit cohere.com.
About Aleph Alpha
Aleph Alpha was founded in 2019 with the mission to research and build sovereign, human-centric AI for a better world. With an international team of scientists and engineers, the company researches and develops Specialized Large Language Models. Its co-created solutions are the first choice for companies and government institutions that want to maintain sovereignty, secure data, and develop trustworthy applications. With its Headquarters in Heidelberg, Aleph Alpha employs some 200 talent across four locations in Germany. For more information, visit aleph-alpha.com.
About Schwarz Digits
Schwarz Digits is the IT and digital division of Schwarz Group and offers impressive digital products and services that meet the high German data protection standards. With the aim of achieving the greatest possible digital sovereignty, Schwarz Digits provides the IT infrastructure and solutions for the extensive ecosystem of the companies of Schwarz Group and develops it for the future. Schwarz Digits' sovereign core services include Cloud, Cyber Security, Data and AI, Communication and Workspace. In addition, Schwarz Digits creates optimal conditions for the development of trend-setting innovations for end customers, companies and public sector organizations. Further information can be found at www.schwarz-digits.de/en.
About Schwarz Group
Schwarz Group is an international leader in the retail industry with about 14,500 stores and 604,000 employees. In the 2025 fiscal year, the companies of Schwarz Group generated a total sales volume of 185.6 billion euros. Their unique ecosystem lets them cover the full value cycle: from production and retail to recycling and digitalization. They create solutions to make the lives safer, healthier and more sustainable, both right now and in the future - they act ahead. Lidl and Kaufland form the pillars of the food retail market and are an integral part of their customers' daily lives in 33 countries. Many of the own-brand products and much of the sustainable packaging come directly from Schwarz Produktion. Through its recycling management solutions, the environmental service provider PreZero promotes a functional circular economy and is investing in a clean future. The IT and digital division, Schwarz Digits, provides compelling digital products and services that meet the high German data protection standards, thus ensuring the maximum degree of digital sovereignty. As a partner service provider, Schwarz Corporate Solutions assists the companies of Schwarz Group with all matters related to administration, HR, operational activities and everything in between. Further information can be found at www.gruppe.schwarz/en.
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