Google in Talks to Invest $200 million Into AI Startup

• ByStartupStory     |    October 22, 2022

Google is in talks to invest at least $200 million in artificial intelligence startup Cohere Inc., indicating yet another sign of the sector’s escalating arms race among large technology companies.

Cohere, which was founded in 2019, develops natural language processing software that developers can use to create artificial intelligence applications for businesses, such as chatbots and other features that can understand human speech and text. Last November, the company announced a multi-year agreement with Google to use its cloud division to provide the computing power required for Cohere to train its software models.

According to the sources, Cohere also discussed a potential strategic investment with chipmaker Nvidia Corp. as part of the negotiations. According to some sources, the companies’ talks are still ongoing and may fail. The valuation of Cohere from any potential new funding could not be determined. Nvidia and Google both declined to comment. Cohere, which is based in Toronto, has not responded to requests for comment.

Other technology behemoths are also looking to increase their reliance on artificial intelligence. Microsoft Corp. is in advanced talks to lead a new funding round in OpenAI, another startup racing to develop software models that will enable a machine to understand anything a human can within years.

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