Nvidia-supported AI company, Cohere, to establish regional office in South Korea
In a strategic move to bolster its presence in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) market, AI startup Cohere has announced the opening of a new office in Seoul, South Korea. This office will serve as the regional hub for Cohere's AI business, marking a significant step towards accelerating growth and solidifying its role in the region.
Founded in 2019 by Aidan Gomez, Nick Frosst, and Ivan Zhang, Cohere specialises in automating repetitive tasks for companies, such as risk assessment, insurance claim processing, and quality control, using AI technology. The company, valued at $5.5 billion, has raised $970 million from notable investors including Nvidia, AMD, Oracle, Salesforce, Cisco, Magnetar Capital, Mirae Asset, and Fujitsu.
The expansion in South Korea coincides with the country's new president, Lee Jae Myung, pledging to invest up to 100 trillion won (about $72 billion) in AI infrastructure and development. This investment presents a promising opportunity for Cohere to collaborate with the South Korean government on significant projects, such as the "Intelligent AI Foreign Affairs and Security Data Platform," which Cohere is building alongside LG CNS and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Andrew Chang, a seasoned industry veteran with experience at Google, Microsoft, IBM, Samsung SDS, Oracle, and Confluent, has been appointed as the vice president of Asia Pacific at Cohere. His role will involve leading operations in Seoul and overseeing regional expansion. Chang emphasised that Cohere empowers Korean enterprises with secure, multilingual AI solutions tailored to their unique needs, helping businesses overcome hurdles to AI adoption, such as security, privacy, and making AI accessible to non-technical employees.
In addition to serving the private sector, Cohere aims to support forward-looking clients in the public sector, emphasising secure AI solutions that can drive economic productivity and institutional modernization. The company is also developing Korea-specific large language models (LLMs) and customised AI services, particularly through partnerships with key local players such as LG CNS.
The co-developed model supports 23 languages, including Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Hebrew, and Persian, and has already resulted in custom agentic AI solutions that excel at understanding Korean and finance-specific jargon. Cohere's last venture funding round was a $500 million Series D in July 2024.
This move underscores Cohere’s ambition to accelerate its global AI footprint by establishing Seoul as a central hub for APAC operations, recruiting local talent, and backing AI research through grants, solidifying its role in advancing AI adoption and innovation across the region.
Notably, another prominent AI startup, OpenAI, has also announced plans to open an office in South Korea, indicating a growing interest in the region's AI market. South Korea, in fact, has the highest number of paying subscribers for ChatGPT, OpenAI's product, outside the U.S.
With this expansion, Cohere is poised to significantly impact the regional AI ecosystem, positioning Seoul as the nucleus for AI growth, innovating in localised LLM technology, forging government and corporate collaborations, and enhancing economic and security applications of AI.
- In collaboration with the South Korean government, Cohere plans to work on significant projects, such as the "Intelligent AI Foreign Affairs and Security Data Platform," as part of the country's AI infrastructure investment of up to 100 trillion won.
- The new office in Seoul, South Korea, will serve as a regional hub for Cohere's AI business, allowing the company to recruit local talent and advance AI adoption and innovation across the Asia-Pacific region.
- The co-developed language model by Cohere supports 23 languages, including Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and finance-specific jargon, positioning the company to significantly impact the regional AI ecosystem, especially in South Korea's growing AI market.
