Cohere is partnering with the Canadian subsidiary of French defence company Thales to provide its artificial intelligence (AI) tech as it courts clients in the defence and security sectors.
Thales Canada announced today that it would use the Toronto enterprise AI company’s services to help fulfill its operation and maintenance contracts with the Department of National Defence, as well as combine Cohere’s tech and expertise with its in-house AI accelerator division, cortAIx.
“This partnership with Thales Canada marks a strategic leap in responsibly deploying AI for national defence.”
“This partnership with Thales Canada marks a strategic leap in responsibly deploying AI for national defence,” Cohere co-founder Ivan Zhang said in a statement. “Together, we’re bringing secure, sovereign AI solutions to Canada’s maritime forces that analyze complex naval environments in real time.”
Founded in 2019 by former Google researchers, Cohere builds large language models (LLMs) that power chatbots and other AI applications for companies and government agencies. Amidst stiff competition from larger American LLM developers, Cohere has sought to distinguish itself as an enterprise- and cybersecurity-focused AI company.
The partnership marks one of the first deployments of Cohere’s AI tools to the Canadian Armed Forces. So far, Cohere has partnered with enterprise clients across sectors where data security is a top priority, including healthcare and financial services. It has also partnered with US defence software company Second Front Systems, which contracts with the US Department of Defense.
The announcement comes on the heels of a surge in promised defence industry funding from the Canadian government, as well as criticisms of the feds’ policy decisions subsidizing foreign companies with Canadian operations.
In an email to BetaKit, Thales Canada spokesperson Jennifer Tumminio said that the company has two contracts with the Royal Canadian Navy, under which it ensures “operational readiness” for Arctic and offshore patrol ships, joint support ships, minor warships, and auxiliary vessels. It also uses AI and cybersecurity to optimize this support.
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With the Cohere partnership, Tumminio said Thales will use agentic AI—like Cohere’s platform North—to enhance efficiency and operational readiness “while maintaining the highest standards of security and ethical deployment.”
In 2023, the Canadian government awarded a joint venture between Thales Canada and Thales Australia a $450-million CAD contract for servicing minor warships and vessels. In 2017, Thales was given a $800-million CAD maintenance contract for Arctic and offshore patrol ships and joint support ships, with the possibility of expansion up to $5.2 billion CAD.
Thales did not share the value of the Cohere contract. However, Thales Canada said in a press release that the partnership would allow it to comply with the Canadian Industrial and Technological Benefits Policy. This policy requires companies awarded defence contracts in Canada to undertake business activity worth as much as the contracts they’ve won.
Cohere has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the federal government to help “transform” public sector operations with AI. At the Reuters NEXT conference in New York on Thursday, Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez argued that Canada and the US have an edge over China in the global race to develop the most effective technology.
Most recently valued at $7 billion USD ($9.7 billion CAD), Cohere has raised about $1.6 billion USD to date and grown to 450 employees. This fall, the company said it crossed $200 million USD in annual recurring revenue, with Gomez hinting at an initial public offering coming “soon.”
Feature image courtesy Thales Netherland BV.