Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced a C$1.6 billion government investment in the Canadian artificial intelligence company Cohere, presenting it as a matter of national security, Politico Europe reports.
Speaking in Montreal on Thursday, Carney argued that Canadians should not leave decisions about the technology's future to foreign actors they cannot trust. The government is investing on commercial terms alongside private backers including Nvidia, Bell and Germany's Schwarz Group. Cohere chief executive Aidan Gomez announced the first close of a funding round targeting up to C$7 billion at a valuation of C$35.7 billion.
The announcement came ahead of a Canada-EU summit with Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa on Friday. Von der Leyen pointed to Cohere's merger with Germany's Aleph Alpha as an example of closer co-operation on AI.
Source: Politico Europe
