30. Cohere

Founders: Aidan Gomez (CEO), Nick Frosst, Ivan Zhang
Launched: 2019
Headquarters: Toronto
Funding: $445 million
Valuation: N/A
Key technologies: Artificial intelligence, deep neural networks/deep learning, generative AI, machine learning
Industry: Enterprise technology
Previous appearances on Disruptor 50 List: 1 (No. 44 in 2023)

As generative AI large language models multiply, one important fork in the artificial intelligence road is between AI being built within the walls, and under the control, of tech giants, and the models that are branding their AI as being built to embed across all businesses without any conflicts. 

That's always been a big talking point for Cohere, a gen AI platform founded by former Google AI researchers that emphasizes in its competition with rivals like Microsoft-backed No. 1 Disruptor OpenAI that it builds LLMs for use across all businesses "with a focus on data security."

Since most companies across sectors will need to embrace AI for both customers and work processes and employees – and most companies could not afford to create their own LLMs, or it simply wouldn't make sense to start from scratch – Cohere is among the gen AI start-ups offering LLMs to upgrade products or create new ones that compose, search, and summarize language, while keeping proprietary data secure.

Oracle, SAP, McKinsey, and Deloitte, as well as fellow Disruptors including Notion, are among companies that use Cohere AI. Cohere boasts that it is the only proprietary LLM that has rejected "cloud-exclusive deals" and is available on all four major clouds (including AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud), and even on-prem. "We meet companies where their data is," it states.

Last June, Cohere announced a $270 million Series C and a partnership with Oracle to directly embed its models in Oracle's business applications, reaching a network of 400,000-plus customers. Salesforce was also an investor in that deal. Last July, it launched Coral, a chatbot designed for enterprises and a partnership with McKinsey to help organizations deploy AI. 

The company also says any venture deal it signs comes with "no strings attached" regardless of the investor. Nvidia is another prominent financial backer of the company.

Cohere is not shy about making its pitch in a fiercely competitive market. President Martin Kon told CNBC earlier this year that many artificial intelligence startups on the market today are building the equivalent of fancy sports cars. "If you're looking for vehicles for your field technical service department, and I take you for a test drive in a Bugatti, you're going to be impressed by how fast and how well it performs," Kon said.

"What you actually need is a fleet of F-150 pickup trucks," Kon said. "We make F-150s."

When OpenAI was facing its existential crisis in late 2023, Cohere was among the firms to say it was seeing an uptick in customer inquiries. But the company has its own issues. One research effort claimed that Cohere AI models "hallucinate" more than competitors – a claim Cohere pushed back against.

A March article from The Information alleged that after the OpenAI crisis abated, Cohere was struggling to grow revenue even as its venture-based value increased – to be sure, a common issue across the latest AI startups receiving generous checks from investors in this new arms race. And it faces plenty of competition, not just from OpenAI, but fellow Disruptor Anthropic, Hugging Face, hot European AI startups like Mistral, and Meta's open-source Llama models.