Cohere CEO urges CEOs to secure AI supply chains amid US-China tensions

Cohere, whose worth surged from $7 billion to $20 billion following a merger with Germany’s Aleph Alpha, is marketing itself as a sovereign AI option for corporations and governments. CEO Aidan Gomez warns that the growing US-China tech rivalry creates a real-time risk for firms that depend on models from either bloc, referencing Washington’s export restrictions on Anthropic’s Mythos AI. He contends that true AI sovereignty means companies control their own infrastructure without external intervention, and that diversification across suppliers reduces single points of failure.

An IDC study released by Cohere indicates most executives deem sovereignty important yet lack concrete strategies. Gomez frames the push for democratic-aligned AI as essential for sectors such as telecom, finance, health, energy and water, arguing that the cost of fragility outweighs the expense of building resilient supply chains.