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Cohere and Aleph Alpha Sign Merger Deal, New Leadership

Cohere and Aleph Alpha have signed a binding merger agreement on September 16, 2026, creating a combined entity valued at approximately $20 billion, subject to regulatory approval and expected to close later this year. The combined company will operate under the Cohere name, with dual headquarters in Toronto and Berlin, while Heidelberg remains a research hub. Upon completion, the team will exceed 1,000 employees. Schwarz Group, parent of Lidl and Kaufland, invests €500 million in structured financing and provides sovereign cloud infrastructure via STACKIT, deepening the partnership with Schwarz Digits. Key executive appointments include Aleph Alpha's Ilhan Scheer as COO and Samuel Weinbach as Chief Research Officer. The merger aims to position Cohere as a leading transatlantic provider of secure, controllable sovereign AI for governments and regulated industries. Cohere reported annual revenue of $240 million, while Aleph Alpha earned less than €1 million in 2023.

• Merger agreement signed on September 16, 2026, valued at approximately $20 billion, subject to regulatory approval and expected to close later that year.
• Combined company operates as Cohere with dual headquarters in Toronto and Berlin; Heidelberg remains a research hub; team to exceed 1,000 employees.
• Ilhan Scheer (formerly Co-CEO of Aleph Alpha) becomes COO, and Samuel Weinbach becomes Chief Research Officer of Cohere.

AI Pioneers Weigh In on Existential Risks

A series of stark AI safety warnings has emerged from researchers at major labs like Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google DeepMind. AI pioneers, including Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton, and Aidan Gomez, have shared their views on the risks. Bengio warns that AI systems already possess hacking skills and persuasive powers that could be harmful, and that current mitigation efforts may only hide misalignment. Hinton stated that a 10% chance of AI causing human extinction within a decade is not unreasonable, citing risks from biological and computer viruses and cyber attacks. Gomez called AI models the most potent cyber weapon ever created, emphasizing that weak container security allows breakout events, and that policymakers should not solely be influenced by big tech companies. The warnings have sparked political debate in Washington, with President Trump opposing calls for regulation.

• Researchers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind issued AI safety warnings.
• Yoshua Bengio stated AI systems already have hacking skills and persuasive powers harmful to human interests.
• Geoffrey Hinton said a 10% chance of AI causing human extinction within a decade is not unreasonable.

Introducing North Small Translate: A leading sovereign open-weight machine translation model

Cohere launches North Small Translate, a sovereign open-weight machine translation model built for speed and cost efficiency. The blog also features new posts on AI governance, megakernels for North Mini Code, and a partnership with the University of Waterloo.