Cohere Raises $250M to Compete with ChatGPT
Cohere, a Toronto-based AI startup, has secured $250 million in funding from investors such as Nvidia, Salesforce, Inovia Capital, and Index Ventures. This funding round values Cohere at around $2 billion, which marks continued growth for the generative AI sector that has increased since OpenAI's ChatGPT's release last year.
The startup was founded by two ex-Google researchers, Aidan Gomez and Nick Frosst, in 2019 and has been building technology to deploy chatbots, search engines, and other AI-driven products. Cohere intends to use the recent funding to bolster its position in the crowded AI sector and compete with deep-pocketed competitors such as Microsoft.
Unlike OpenAI, Cohere focuses on enterprise clients. The company lets partner firms use its models without having access to their data, which has been a huge draw for many businesses. Gomez has made it clear that Cohere will not compete directly with OpenAI and won't offer consumer products.
The success of companies like Cohere highlights the interest and investment pouring into generative AI. As the industry continues to grow, firms like Cohere will play a significant role in building the technologies that could rival the systems currently under development at OpenAI.
