Startup News: Groq, Anthropic, and Cohere make big moves in generative AI space

Three privately-held AI firms have taken steps in the past week aiming to bolster their positions in the fast-moving industry.

Groq announced in early March that it is acquiring AI company Definitive Intelligence and tapping the acquired company’s Co-Founder and CEO, Sunny Madra, to lead a new business unit, GroqCloud. Terms of the deal between the two Calif.-based companies were not disclosed

Meanwhile, Anthropic introduced a suite of improved generative AI products. And Cohere announced a partnership with global consulting firm Accenture that will give thousands of Accenture’s corporate clients access to Cohere’s generative AI technology.

Groq’s press release added that the infusion of engineering talent from Definitive Intelligence has enabled Groq to also create a Groq Systems business unit, which will focus on innovation and serve the public sector and customers that require Groq hardware for AI computing centers.

Groq’s listed valuation on Forge is $1.08 billion based on an April 2021 funding round. Last month, the online trade news site CryptoSlate reported that Groq’s dedicated language processing unit has set a new record in processing efficiency for large language models.

Anthropic is also pushing to improve its generative AI capabilities. Last week, the San Francisco-based company, among the most highly valued of the generative AI startups, announced the debut of a suite of generative AI products under the banner of Claude 3. The suite of models are Claude 3 Haiku, Claude 3 Sonnet, and Claude 3 Opus, with the latter being the most sophisticated. Faced with these choices, users can select the proper balance of intelligence, speed, and price for a particular application.

Anthropic praised its most intelligent model, Opus, and says it outperforms its peers on most of the common evaluation benchmarks for AI systems. Founded in 2021, Anthropic has gained a reputation for seeking to build chatbot models that are guided by ethical considerations. As of January 2024, the company had a listed valuation on Forge of $18.24 billion. This week, the company’s Forge Price™ was $28.62 a share.

Finally, Cohere is seeking to gain access to thousands of new corporate clients around the world by inking a partnership with a firm that serves those businesses as a consultant: Accenture.

A statement on Cohere’s website announcing the partnership said that the two companies will provide Accenture’s clients with generative AI solutions powered by Cohere’s flagship proprietary generative large language model, Command, and its enterprise search technologies, Embed and Rerank. “Cohere will be working closely with Accenture to offer its clients AI-tailored solutions to meet their specific business needs,” the statement added.

Founded in 2019, Cohere, with headquarters in both San Francisco and Toronto, has a listed valuation on Forge of $2.2 billion as of June 2023.

About the Author

John Kimelman is a veteran journalist who has worked at Barron’s and CNBC covering such topics as investing and commercial banking. Mr. Kimelman has received compensation from Forge Global, Inc. for authoring this article. Read more from John.

Please Read These Important Legal Notices & Disclosures

The information and material presented in this article is provided for your informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer by Forge Global, Inc., Forge Securities LLC or any of its affiliates (collectively, "Forge") to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities and may not be used or relied upon in connection with any offer or sale of securities. An offer or solicitation can be made only through the delivery of final offering document(s) and purchase agreement and will be subject to the terms and conditions and risks delivered in such documents.

To the extent information about or defining specific terms is provided herein, Forge makes no representations as to its accuracy and has no duty to update such information. Such information is based on Forge’s experience and the meanings and connotations of terms as Forge typically uses and interprets them. Others may construe such terms differently, and you should do your own research and consult with financial, legal and tax professionals regarding any such concepts included herein.

This article does not constitute an offer to provide investment advice or service. Registered representatives of Forge Securities LLC do not (1) advise any member on the merits or prudence of a particular investment or transaction, or (2) assist in the determination of fair value of any security or investment, or (3) provide legal, tax, or transactional advisory services. Securities referenced in this article may be offered by Forge Securities LLC, member FINRA/SIPC.

Forge Securities LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Forge Global, Inc. Certain affiliates may act as principals in such transactions. Forge Data LLC is an affiliate of Forge Global, Inc. and Forge Securities LLC.

Investing in private company securities is not suitable for all investors. An investment in private company securities is highly speculative, involving a high degree of risk, and investors should be prepared to withstand a total loss of your investment. Private company securities are also highly illiquid and there is no guarantee that a market will develop for such securities. Each investment also carries its own specific risks and investors should conduct their own, independent due diligence regarding the investment, including obtaining additional information about the company, opinions, financial projections and legal or investment advice. Accordingly, investing in private company securities is appropriate only for those investors who can tolerate a high degree of risk and do not require a liquid investment. Past performance Is not indicative of future results.

Forge Price™ is calculated and disseminated by Forge Data LLC (“Forge Data”). All rights reserved. Forge Price is designed to reflect the up-to-date price performance of venture-backed, late-stage companies. Forge Price is determined based on a proprietary model incorporating the pricing inputs from primary founding round information and secondary market transactions, including indications of interest (IOIs). Secondary market transactions are sourced from Forge Securities LLC (an affiliate of Forge Data), a leading market platform, and data collected from other private market trading platforms. The Forge Price is a mark of Forge Data. The Forge Price is solely for informational purposes and is based upon information from sources believed to be reliable, however Forge Data makes no assurance as to the accuracy or reliability of this data. Forge Data is not an investment adviser and makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in any asset or asset class. Private company securities are highly illiquid, and the Forge Price may rely on a very limited number of trade and/or IOI inputs in its calculation. Brokerage products and services are offered by Forge Securities LLC, a registered broker-dealer and member FINRA/SIPC. Neither reference to company names, nor calculation of Forge Price for a particular company(ies) implies any affiliation between Forge or its affiliates and any company, any endorsement or sponsorship of Forge or its affiliates by any company or vice versa, or any partnership, joint venture or other commercial relationship between Forge or its affiliates and any company. Rights with respect to any company marks referred to herein are, as between Forge and its affiliates and such company, owned by the company.