Cohere and Aleph Alpha sign definitive agreement to combine under the Cohere name

The companies said the transaction is expected to close later in 2026 and will take Cohere's headcount above 1,000 across the two continents. Aleph Alpha's Heidelberg site will continue as a research center. On closing, Aleph Alpha co-chief executive Ilhan Scheer is due to become Cohere's chief operating officer and co-founder Samuel Weinbach its chief research officer. Aidan Gomez remains chief executive, Reuters reported.

The announcement gave no financial terms or valuation. Reuters reported that Schwarz Group, the owner of Lidl and an existing Aleph Alpha shareholder, is investing 500 million euros in the combined business, a commitment first made public in April, and that the companies said Schwarz will supply computing capacity through its StackIT cloud unit. The combination was valued at about $20 billion when first disclosed, according to media reports at the time rather than the companies.

BetaKit reported that the agreement was unveiled at the ALL IN conference in Montreal and that the Schwarz money is pledged to lead a Series E round for Cohere. The companies present the deal as creating a transatlantic supplier of sovereign AI to enterprises and governments.