Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on October 29 in Montreal that the Government of Canada will make an equity investment of up to C$1.6 billion in Cohere, the Toronto company that builds AI systems for businesses and governments. The Prime Minister’s Office described it as a commercial investment, made alongside private investors including NVIDIA, Bell and Germany’s Schwarz Group, and said it will be made in stages, with regular reporting on progress against the company’s commitments.
The commitments are the substance of the deal. Cohere will create at least 1,000 new high-paying Canadian technical jobs by 2030 and commit at least C$1.7 billion to additional computing infrastructure in Canada by 2030. Its incorporation and headquarters will remain in Canada, and it will keep working with the Canadian AI Safety Institute. Carney’s formulation was direct: “Under this agreement, Cohere will stay Canadian.”
The government money sits inside a much larger financing. Cohere announced the initial close of a Series E round on the same day, targeting up to C$7 billion; reporting of the company’s announcement put the valuation at target at C$35.7 billion. Schwarz Group companies were named as lead investor, with the Government of Canada, Bell Ventures and Bullhound Capital as new participants and Inovia Capital, NVIDIA and Prosperity7 Ventures returning. Cohere did not disclose how much has been committed at the initial close or when the round will finish, and Ottawa has not disclosed the ownership percentage its C$1.6 billion will buy. AI and Digital Innovation Minister Evan Solomon told BetaKit the investment will be made through the Canada Development Investment Corporation, the Crown corporation that holds federal assets.
The announcement landed on the first day of the Canada and European Union summit in Montreal and on the day Carney released a new national security strategy that lists artificial intelligence alongside semiconductors, critical minerals, payment systems, clean energy, vaccines and space-based communications as capabilities requiring secure domestic access. The Prime Minister’s Office also noted Cohere’s recent merger with German AI developer Aleph Alpha. The structure mirrors the Humain consolidation in Saudi Arabia reported in this edition: a government taking an equity position in a national AI champion, and paying for control conditions, domestic compute and talent retention rather than for a subsidy headline.