Latest news with #Toronto-headquartered
Calgary Herald
4 days ago
- Business
- Calgary Herald
Cohere hits US$6.8-billion valuation and snags Meta's former AI head
Canada's top-funded artificial intelligence startup has secured a US$500 million fundraise that boosts Cohere Inc. 's valuation to US$6.8 billion as it tries to become a mainstay in a heavily funded and increasingly competitive race to supply businesses and governments with AI services. Article content The Toronto-headquartered company has also added a key figure to its AI personnel by hiring Meta Platforms Inc. 's former AI head Joelle Pineau as its chief AI officer. Pineau will lead the company's research and product development efforts from Montreal, where Cohere opened a new office last month – its second in Canada. Article content Article content Its latest funding round was led by Toronto-based Radical Ventures Investments Inc. and Montreal-based Inovia Capital Inc., and included participation from existing investors such as chip behemoth Nvidia Corp., AMD Ventures, the venture capital arm of Advanced Micro Devices Inc., and the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan. Article content Its valuation has shot up from US$5.5 billion since its last funding round in June 2024 and has soared 200 per cent since its June 2023 fundraising round. Article content Article content Though Cohere's size and business remain small compared to its Silicon Valley peers — the likes of OpenAI Inc. and Anthropic PBC, which are targeting valuations of US$300 billion and US$170 billion, respectively — it is hedging its bets on helping businesses and governments worldwide integrate its AI models and systems. Article content Article content For example, it teamed up in January with the Royal Bank of Canada, the country's biggest bank and most valuable company, to develop North for Banking, an AI platform for financial services. Article content More recently, Cohere has announced a slew of private- and public-sector deals, in addition to new offices in Montreal and Seoul, South Korea. Article content In early August, Cohere launched its AI agent service and is working with 'large enterprises across key markets in North America, APAC, and EMEA' to integrate the platform. Last month, the company struck an alliance with BCE Inc. to sell AI tools to Canadian organizations.
Calgary Herald
06-08-2025
- Business
- Calgary Herald
Cohere launches AI agent platform for businesses
Toronto-headquartered artificial intelligence startup Cohere Inc. has officially launched its AI agent service for businesses. Article content The company is aiming to sell its agentic AI platform, called North, to private and public sector organizations in Canada and worldwide. Cohere is 'working with large enterprises across key markets in North America, APAC, and EMEA,' it told the Financial Post in an emailed statement. Article content Article content Cohere initially debuted North in January. The startup integrated the platform into the workflows of a select group of companies including the Royal Bank of Canada, Dell Technologies Inc. and South Korea's LG CNS Co. Ltd., an IT service firm and subsidiary of conglomerate LG Corporation. Article content Cohere and RBC for instance, jointly developed North for Banking, a generative and agentic AI workspace tailored to financial services firms. The platform lets users search for answers and solutions via a customized chatbot, and to use AI agents to automate tasks from drafting emails to summarizing reports and creating data visualizations. Article content Last week, Cohere announced a partnership with telecommunications giant BCE Inc. to sell AI tools to governments and businesses in Canada. The tie-up will allow organizations to access Cohere's AI services, including North and its large language models, through Bell Canada's AI data centres and fibre network. Article content Article content Cohere's public launch of its AI agent platform comes as the startup makes a major push to secure its position as Canada's top AI provider and as a leading global supplier of AI tools for enterprises. Article content Article content In June, the company announced a new alliance to deploy its AI tools and platforms across the Canadian and U.K. governments to 'strengthen the public sector and national security,' it said in an official release. Article content In July, Cohere said that it would open a second Canadian office in Montreal this year, which will initially hire seven staff, with the aim to triple that number within a year. In the same month, the company launched a new office in Seoul, South Korea, in an effort to shore up its regional operations and to win more Asia-based clients. Article content Cohere has over 400 staff in offices in Toronto, San Francisco, New York and London, with the majority of its workers based in Canada. Founded in 2019, the startup has raised over US$970 million from investors like chip giant Nvidia Corporation, cloud computing provider Oracle Corporation, and Quebec-based venture capital firm Inovia Capital. Article content
Calgary Herald
31-07-2025
- Business
- Calgary Herald
Will AI make the 4-day workweek a reality in Canada? For some it already has
Article content Even U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders has chimed in, arguing that AI's productivity gains should translate into shorter working hours. 'You are a worker, your productivity is increasing because we give you AI, right? Instead of throwing you out on the street, I'm going to reduce your work week to 32 hours. (This is) not a radical idea. There are companies around the world that are doing it, with some success,' he said on a June episode of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. Article content At least a few Canadian firms are putting the theory Sanders espoused into practice. Article content 'From a low baseline, we are seeing a slow and gradual increase, mostly by small-to-mid-sized enterprises in the private sector,' O'Connor said. Article content Any chance of accelerating that transition would require more refined and specialized AI tools, which are still only able to support certain forms of work. Article content Article content 'The use of AI has not accelerated sales nearly as much as software engineering, which is now moving multiples faster,' Kirkness said, adding that Convictional's engineering team has used agentic AI coding tools to accelerate their technical output. 'What used to take six months to build now takes three weeks, which is a profound change.' Article content Since Convictional's four-day week was implemented six weeks ago, Kirkness said his team isn't doing more work, but is 'writing the same amount of code in four days instead of five.' Article content A 2024 report from Work Time Revolution found that if companies introduce the use of large language models such as ChatGPT, 91 per cent of workers in the Canadian labour market could see their working hours shortened by 10 per cent or more by 2034. Article content Toronto-headquartered PRAXIS Public Relations Inc., a marketing and communications agency, adopted a four-day week in 2022. Article content Article content But since the launch of ChatGPT late that year, the company has embraced AI to improve its productivity even further, eliminating 'busy work' and allowing staff to focus on strategic and creative work and preserve the reduced workweek, said Matt Juniper, a partner at the firm. Article content PRAXIS PR encourages employees to use AI tools such as Perplexity AI, Inc.'s chatbot, which is viewed as more rigorous for research and academic tasks. Its staff use AI for a wide range of tasks: to write first drafts of press releases; to monitor social media to gauge public sentiment on a topic; to compile media outreach lists; and to help them rehearse client presentations. Article content 'In under 20 minutes, I can get a solid first draft of a press release from AI. For staff who are still learning and doing all the work manually, it wouldn't be realistic to expect an initial draft without giving them a couple days to work on it,' Juniper said. Article content The company leaders insist that their aim is not to slash staff numbers and to pay employees less, but they do think that the rise of AI will affect their hiring in more subtle ways. Article content 'My ambition is not to hire less people in the long run,' Kirkness said. 'But AI will probably change the nature of the roles that we're hiring for.' Article content He acknowledged that some functions, such as finance, are zero-sum for his company. Article content 'If our finance function gets more efficient (due to AI), it doesn't mean we're processing more transactions. That may lead to job losses in the future.' Article content His company's engineers, meanwhile, will see their job functions will change as they increasingly rely on AI to write code. Article content 'They will become more like managers, and oversee the work that the AI agent is doing on their behalf,' he said. Kirkness envisions all of his company staff taking on more 'judgment work' as AI usage grows. Article content Article content Juniper similarly noted that some companies could expedite layoffs in the hopes that AI will fill in the gaps, but he argued that people remain vital in using the tech. Article content 'Human oversight and assessment over what AI is producing … is a critical skill-set that could be a default requirement in many fields in three to five years.' Article content Yet any shift runs the risk of playing out unequally, with some workers likely to be left behind. Some AI and business leaders say that AI will come for white-collar jobs first. But the ideal scenario, O'Connor said, is that AI-fluent workers increase their market value and command the same or a higher salary for fewer hours worked. Meanwhile lower-skilled workers unfamiliar with AI are at a higher risk of displacement, and could end up working fewer hours or resorting to gig work to fill their schedules, he said. Article content Article content He argued that government intervention will likely be required, 'especially in sectors that will experience the greatest disruption … to smooth the transition, preserve jobs, and to prevent major labour and employment shocks.' Article content There will also be competing pressures as technology advances, said Juliet Schor, a sociology professor at Boston College and economist who studies the four-day week. Some employers will 'want to keep the machines running and push for longer hours at the same time (that) it is clearly possible to achieve more production in less time,' she wrote in her book, Four Days a Week: The Life-Changing Solution for Reducing Employee Stress, Improving Well-Being, and Working Smarter. Article content Researchers say that there is no one-size-fits-all approach for every company. Various factors, including the structure of a business, its approach to implementing new technologies and work schedules, will play a role in determining if and how adopting AI for the purposes of a shorter workweek is feasible.
Vancouver Sun
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Vancouver Sun
5 fine jewelry finds for a flawless summer glow
Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. There is something about a shimmer of gold jewelry against sun-kissed skin that feels perfectly chic for summer. Plus, with the price of the precious metal material hovering around $146 per gram, and a reported i ncrease in luxury shoppers purchasing fine jewelry pieces over, say, fashion and accessories items, the storyline around gilded accoutrements is sizzling this season. With an eye for keepsake pieces that you can wear for years to come — and maybe even pass on to loved ones — we've rounded up five stunning fine (and a few demi-fine) jewelry finds to add to your flawless summer glow this season and beyond. Discover the best of B.C.'s recipes, restaurants and wine. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of West Coast Table will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. These 18-karat gold vermeil and enamel earrings from the Toronto-headquartered jewelry brand Mejuri add an easy pop of colour to your ear stack. The transformable earrings can be mixed and matched to suit every colour mood — and changing season. $298 | A simply chic necklace that looks perfect when worn on its own or paired with other necklaces, this piece is a designer jewelry find for those who are in the know. The Coco Crush collection, which includes rings, bracelets, earrings and more, features the quilted motif of Chanel that dates back to the year 1955. $3,700 | Chanel boutiques Diamonds — yes, plural — for less than $500? Yes, please. Crafted from 100 per cent recycled, 14-karat yellow gold, these effortless gold drop earrings feature four hand-set lab-grown diamonds. The round brilliant-cut stones are rated a sparkling VS+ clarity and G-J colour. $480 | Pandora A bold ring that will fit pretty much every finger size — no, really, it's available in ring sizes four to 15 — this Archive Ring from the Vancouver-headquartered jewelry brand Zaleska is crafted from 14-karat gold over sterling silver. Featuring a faceted pink quartz gemstone at its centre, the delightful ring design is inspired by 'moments of pure joy,' according to designer and brand founder, Sylvia Tennant . $110 | A perfect piece for stacking with your favourite watch or bracelet, this simple string design is adorned with a sparkling diamond-set star at its centre. Available in a few different string colours, the 14-karat gold and pave-diamond set bracelet is handcrafted in Vancouver and is made to order. It's like a custom jewelry piece without the custom price tag. $450 | Poppy Finch Aharris@
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tech billionaire set for $237 million windfall from semiconductor takeover
Weili Dai is in line for a $237 million windfall from Alphawave's sale to Qualcomm. Dai is Alphawave's interim executive director and holds a big stake in the London-listed company. Bloomberg estimated the deal would boost her net worth to about $3.3 billion. Tech billionaire Weili Dai is in line for a $237 million windfall following a takeover deal for a London-listed semiconductor firm. Dai is the second-largest shareholder of Alphawave IP Group with a stake of about 96 million shares, Bloomberg reported. Earlier this month Qualcomm agreed to buy the company for almost $2.4 billion in a deal due to close next year. Bloomberg estimated Dai's net worth will be about $3.3 billion following the Qualcomm takeover. The Nasdaq-listed company is worth $166 billion. Forbes estimated Dai's wealth at about $1 billion in 2019. Dai and Alphawave did not respond to requests for comment. Shares in Alphawave have risen 18% in the past month and 89% since the start of the year, valuing it at about $1.8 billion. The Toronto-headquartered company had been worth considerably more following its London IPO in 2021. Dai's late husband, Sehat Sutardja, was executive director of Alphawave until his death in September last year. She had been an alternate director for Sutardja and became interim executive director following his death, as well as inheriting his stake. Dai and Sutardja were cofounders of Marvell Technology in 1995, and she was president and director of the semiconductor company until 2016. In 2018, Dai cofounded MeetKai, an AI-enabled personalized conversational search company, and remains its executive chair. She also holds board roles at Lark Health and Astrana Health. Shanghai-born Dai has a degree in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley and was previously a semi-professional basketball player in China before moving to the US with her parents. Read the original article on Business Insider
