Canada will invest CAD1.6bn in Toronto-based artificial intelligence company Cohere as part of a funding round targeting CAD7bn ($5bn) in commitments from investors including Nvidia, Schwarz Group and BCE, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
The government’s equity investment will account for nearly a quarter of the targeted financing. Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez reportedly described the commitments as the largest private capital fundraising round for a technology company in Canadian history.
Government funding will be released in stages and is subject to conditions, including the creation of at least 1,000 highly paid jobs in Canada, retention of Cohere’s domestic headquarters and deployment of nearly CAD2bn in additional computing infrastructure in the country.
Cohere plans to use the capital to expand computing capacity, research and recruitment. The company, which announced plans earlier this year to merge with Germany’s Aleph Alpha, is targeting demand for AI systems that offer an alternative to US and Chinese technology providers.
