Cohere and telecom giant Bell have announced a strategic partnership to sell artificial intelligence tools to businesses and government entities throughout Canada. Under the agreement, Cohere will provide access to its large language models as well as its North agent-builder platform, with Bell hosting these technologies within its expanding Canadian compute and data centre infrastructure. Bell will also implement Cohere´s products internally, leveraging its technology consulting arm, Ateko, to help clients adopt and operationalize artificial intelligence solutions.
The collaboration responds to a growing demand among Canadian organizations for sovereign artificial intelligence solutions, ensuring sensitive data is processed and stored domestically. Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez noted that local firms seek adoption paths that address both regulatory compliance and national interests, while Bell CEO Mirko Bibic highlighted the opportunity to anchor the country’s artificial intelligence ecosystem and better utilize capacity from new data centres under construction. Bell has recently recommitted to the data centre business, with six new facilities planned in British Columbia, and has consolidated its consulting practice with a focus on artificial intelligence offerings.
For Cohere, the Bell partnership broadens its Canadian foothold, adding a major domestic infrastructure partner and distribution channel to its existing alliances with consulting giants like McKinsey, Accenture, and Fujitsu, as well as technology deals with firms such as Dell. Historically, Cohere has found local market traction more difficult than overseas expansion, but recent moves and government attention are boosting domestic interest. The deal also received a push from federal artificial intelligence minister Evan Solomon, furthering a ´Team Canada´ approach. Under the arrangement, Bell will become Cohere’s preferred Canadian infrastructure provider, supporting model training and deployment on advanced chips, while both firms target security-sensitive and regulated sectors. Additionally, Cohere will tap into a new Cambridge, Ontario data centre operated by CoreWeave, funded in part by federal innovation dollars. Both companies emphasize secure, sovereign artificial intelligence delivery, aiming to build a more robust national technology stack amid trade tensions and global competition.
