Consortium of 6 German research institutions and 2 startups launches SOOFI (Sovereign Open Source Foundation Models). Goal: 100B-parameter open AI language model. Funded €20M by Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy through July 2026. First public version planned Q3 2026. Showcase at Hannover Messe 2026. Deutsche Telekom AI factory training the model.
Canada's Cohere and Germany's Aleph Alpha in advanced merger discussions. Combined entity to be headquartered in both countries. Both Berlin and Ottawa support the deal — German Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger publicly endorsed it as a 'very strong signal.' German government would become a 'key customer' of the merged company. Builds on the Canada-Germany Sovereign Technology Alliance signed earlier in 2026.
Cohere and Aleph Alpha merger formalized with Schwarz Group (Lidl/Kaufland parent, Europe's largest retailer) as lead investor in Cohere's €500M Series E. Combined entity dual-headquartered in Toronto and Berlin. German Digital Minister Wildberger framed the deal as state-backed sovereign AI strategy: 'a path different from that of the U.S., through partnerships.' Deployment on Schwarz STACKIT sovereign cloud infrastructure. Creates first EU sovereign-AI-plus-retail vertical: Cohere-Aleph Alpha models → STACKIT cloud → Lidl/Kaufland retail distribution. German government positioned as anchor customer. Transaction is the commercial vehicle built atop the Canada-Germany Sovereign Technology Alliance signed February 2026. Combined entity valued at approximately $20B. Aleph Alpha's Pharia model family will be folded into Cohere's Command series. Aleph Alpha's Heidelberg HQ becomes European center of excellence.
Starting March 2026, a network of around 130 NVIDIA DGX B200 systems with over 1,000 GPUs is now exclusively operated for the SOOFI European language model. First version of the 100B-parameter open-source sovereign model is scheduled for Q3 2026 release. A reasoning model variant is also under development. Demonstrations planned for Hannover Messe 2026.
Cohere and Aleph Alpha announced merger on April 24 in Berlin. Combined entity valued at ~$20B. Schwarz Group contributing €500M (~$600M) structured financing; expects deployment on STACKIT sovereign cloud. Dual HQ in Toronto and Germany. Cohere brand retained. Sovereign AI market opportunity estimated at $600B by the partners.
German Federal Cabinet adopted National Data Center Strategy: double DC capacity and quadruple AI-specific capacity by 2030. Focus on sovereignty and sustainability. Includes streamlined permitting, energy efficiency requirements, and strategic site planning.
Cohere and Aleph Alpha announced merger forming transatlantic sovereign AI powerhouse. Cohere ~90%/AA ~10% of combined entity. Schwarz Group commits EUR500M structured financing; new entity to run on STACKIT sovereign cloud. Berlin-backed, announced at German Ministry of Economy.
Deutsche Telekom and NVIDIA launched the Industrial AI Cloud in Munich — the world's first sovereign, enterprise-grade AI factory. Equipped with up to 10,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs (1,000+ DGX B200 systems), delivering 0.5 exaFLOPS and boosting Germany's AI capacity by ~50%. SAP provides the Deutschland-Stack sovereign platform. Partners include Siemens, Agile Robots, Wandelbots, Quantum Systems, PhysicsX, and Perplexity. Data never leaves the EU.