The AI Podcast – “Cohere and AMD Take on AI Giants”
Date: September 27, 2025
Host: The AI Podcast
Episode Overview
This episode provides an in-depth analysis of Cohere’s recent $7 billion valuation, their significant fundraising round, and a strategic partnership with AMD. The host examines Cohere’s positioning in the highly competitive landscape of AI model providers, especially in the enterprise space, and contrasts their development and market strategy with leading players like OpenAI and Anthropic. The discussion also covers investor sentiment, Cohere’s brand visibility, and opportunities for the company moving forward.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Cohere’s Rapid Growth and Recent Fundraising
- Announcement: Cohere reached a $7 billion valuation after raising an additional $100 million, following an oversubscribed $500 million round.
- “This brought their valuation up to 7 billion… altogether it was around 600 million that they raised.” [02:00]
- Investor Appetite:
- The recent round was oversubscribed, indicating strong investor confidence.
- New investors include the Business Development Bank of Canada and Nexus Capital Management. [08:00]
- Valuation in Context:
- The host points out that the growth from zero to $7 billion in six years is “absolutely insane” and illustrates the extraordinary pace of AI development.
- “Zero to $7 billion valuation in six years. That is absolutely insane in my opinion.” [06:00]
- The host points out that the growth from zero to $7 billion in six years is “absolutely insane” and illustrates the extraordinary pace of AI development.
2. Strategic AMD Partnership
- Tech Differentiation:
- Cohere now officially supports AMD’s Instinct GPUs across their Command family of models—Command, Vision, Translate, Reasoning.
- “…all run on AMD's Instinct GPU on an Nvidia competitor, basically.” [03:30]
- Cohere now officially supports AMD’s Instinct GPUs across their Command family of models—Command, Vision, Translate, Reasoning.
- Industry Dynamics:
- This positions Cohere as a key partner as Nvidia faces competition from AMD, drawing parallels to how Nvidia has subsidized/support tech startups to ensure they use its hardware.
- “By making it specifically so you can run this on AMD's Instinct GPU, AMD is happy and they're going to invest money into your company the same way that it feels like Nvidia basically gives money to every major AI startup.” [04:15]
- Cohere is not abandoning Nvidia support, but expanding to AMD, an uncommon move in the AI landscape.
- This positions Cohere as a key partner as Nvidia faces competition from AMD, drawing parallels to how Nvidia has subsidized/support tech startups to ensure they use its hardware.
3. Cohere’s Competitive Positioning
- Market Focus:
- Cohere is focused on the enterprise AI sector, emphasizing data sovereignty and local control as major selling points.
- “AI sovereignty is really urgent. So, you know, local control of your data and models… rather than putting them into… a foreign entity.” [07:45]
- Differentiates itself from more broadly consumer-focused AI providers like OpenAI.
- Cohere is focused on the enterprise AI sector, emphasizing data sovereignty and local control as major selling points.
- Brand Visibility & Adoption:
- The host notes that while Cohere is highly regarded in professional circles, it lacks general market visibility.
- “It's just not a brand you see out there a lot… Cohere is not incredibly popular on our platform. Not a lot of people use it.” [12:00]
- The service is valuable in specialized use cases—e.g., legal or healthcare sectors.
- The host notes that while Cohere is highly regarded in professional circles, it lacks general market visibility.
- Valuation Comparison:
- Compared to OpenAI ($500B valuation, $6B stock sale) and Anthropic ($183B valuation, $13B raised), Cohere’s numbers are smaller, but still remarkable in historical context.
- “…when you have these $500 billion valuations and you're comparing this to $7 billion, people are like, you know, Cohere isn't growing as fast.” [06:40]
- Compared to OpenAI ($500B valuation, $6B stock sale) and Anthropic ($183B valuation, $13B raised), Cohere’s numbers are smaller, but still remarkable in historical context.
4. Reflections on AI Investment and Growth
- Investor POV:
- The host references a previous conversation with a Cohere investor who acknowledges that while Cohere isn’t one of the “insane rocket ship” AI startups, it delivers solid and satisfactory returns for backers and strong value for customers.
- “Investors are happy, they're getting a great return and their customers are happy. They're, you know, getting a lot of value out of it.” [11:10]
- The host references a previous conversation with a Cohere investor who acknowledges that while Cohere isn’t one of the “insane rocket ship” AI startups, it delivers solid and satisfactory returns for backers and strong value for customers.
- Saturated Market for Broad AI:
- There's a notion that the top 5 AI companies are dominating with “unprecedented” growth, making strong but less explosive companies like Cohere seem overshadowed.
- “Opening eyes. Growth feels just absolutely unprecedented.” [10:30]
- There's a notion that the top 5 AI companies are dominating with “unprecedented” growth, making strong but less explosive companies like Cohere seem overshadowed.
5. Potential Directions for Cohere
- Expanding Beyond Enterprise:
- The host suggests Cohere could increase demand and visibility by targeting specific user verticals or developing models tailored for broader, more specialized use cases.
- “…if they made basically kind of like Anthropic, where they made their model is literally better for writers…or coders…” [13:40]
- The example of Anthropic’s Claude Code, superior for certain developer tasks and plugged right into complex codebases, is highlighted as a path Cohere could emulate for growth.
- The host suggests Cohere could increase demand and visibility by targeting specific user verticals or developing models tailored for broader, more specialized use cases.
- Call for More Consumer Products:
- There’s untapped potential for Cohere in the general consumer AI tool space.
6. Current Market Usage
- The host, reflecting on platform usage data, reaffirms that Cohere appeals to niche, high-security industries but remains less popular with general consumers.
- “I can see usage metrics of every AI model. Cohere is not incredibly popular on our platform. Not a lot of people use it.” [12:00]
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- On Cohere’s Market Trajectory:
- “Zero to $7 billion valuation in six years. That is absolutely insane in my opinion. And if you said that like 10 years ago, people would have been like, there's no way.” [06:00]
- On the Staggering Speed of AI Investment:
- “…in the same month, Anthropic is pulling in 13 billion. Like, it. It's. It's just crazy. These numbers are absolutely staggering.” [07:00]
- On the Impact of Hardware Alliances:
- “By making it specifically so you can run this on AMD's Instinct GPU, AMD is happy and they're going to invest money into your company.” [04:15]
- On Enterprise-First Strategy:
- “They have a lot of specific like use cases where you might be running this locally on your own hardware for different high, you know, high concern industries like legal or health care.” [12:40]
- On the Importance of Consumer Awareness:
- “It's just not a brand you see out there a lot. But at the end of the day it's a powerful company.” [11:55]
- Final Sentiment:
- “Do not count Cohere out. They're still alive and kicking. I'm happy to hear they're still raising more money. $600 million is impressive in the last little bit.” [15:10]
Important Timestamps
- [02:00] — Details on Cohere’s fundraising and valuation.
- [03:30] — Explanation of Cohere’s partnership with AMD and the significance for GPU support.
- [06:00] — Contextualizing Cohere’s valuation compared to rivals.
- [07:45] — Cohere’s focus on enterprise and data sovereignty.
- [11:10] — Investor sentiment on Cohere’s growth and returns.
- [12:00] — Insights into Cohere’s brand visibility and usage on AI platforms.
- [13:40] — Suggestions for Cohere to expand consumer-facing offerings.
- [15:10] — Final thoughts and outlook for Cohere’s future.
Summary
The episode offers a concise yet comprehensive view of Cohere’s rising profile, notably through their large funding round and alliance with AMD, as they seek to carve out a strong position in the AI enterprise market. Despite being overshadowed by high-profile players like OpenAI and Anthropic, Cohere stands as a solid, fast-growing company focused on sovereignty and security for enterprise clients. The host balances objective analysis with excitement for innovation, concluding with optimism for Cohere’s continued relevance and potential to expand its reach in the evolving AI ecosystem.