Cohere, an AI startup co-founded by former Google AI researchers and backed by Nvidia, has announced layoffs affecting 20 roles.
It follows a major funding round where the company raised $500 million, boosting its valuation to $5.5 billion, more than doubling from the previous year.
Key investors in this round included tech giants like AMD, Salesforce, Oracle, and Nvidia.
Cohere is actively recruiting in several areas including customer operations, partnerships, revenue, sales, product design, and modeling.
The startup focuses on providing generative AI solutions tailored for enterprises rather than consumer-focused applications, setting it apart in a crowded AI market.
In June 2023, Cohere secured $270 million at a $2.2 billion valuation, with significant contributions from Salesforce and Oracle.
The company’s leadership, including its president and COO Martin Kon, has been involved in high-profile AI discussions.
It includes forums at the White House, underscoring its strategic importance in the AI landscape.
A company representative said: “With our most recent round of financing in place, we have a clear vision for the future of Cohere, which has required some internal realignment.
“We will continue to aggressively hire people as we work to offer companies the most accurate, secure and private multilingual AI solutions in the market.”
The AI sector has seen explosive growth, with generative AI becoming a critical technology across various industries.
Need Career Advice? Get employment skills advice at all levels of your career
In 2023, investment in generative AI reached a record $29.1 billion across nearly 700 deals, marking a more than 260 percent increase from the previous year.
“We will continue to aggressively hire people as we work to offer companies the most accurate, secure and private multilingual AI solutions in the market”
This technology is increasingly integral to financial services, biomedical research, logistics, and online travel.
Cohere’s competitors, such as OpenAI and Anthropic, have expanded their offerings to include consumer and enterprise products.
For instance, OpenAI introduced ChatGPT Enterprise, while Anthropic opened access to its Claude chatbot.
Cohere has long relied on Google chips for its foundational operations but is transitioning to using Nvidia’s H100 GPUs for its advanced language models.
Cohere serves clients like Notion, Oracle, and Bamboo HR, with a significant client base in the banking, financial services, and insurance sectors.
