Cohere, an OpenAI competitor specializing in large language models (LLMs) for enterprise applications, has announced the launch of “build-your-own connectors.” This new feature allows companies to securely connect their data from third-party applications like Slack, Google Drive, Service Now, and WordPress to Cohere’s Command LLM. It is believed to be the first offering of its kind in the market. Cohere recently achieved the distinction of being “the first and only AI company that offers fine tuning across all four cloud providers.”
According to a blog post by Cohere, this open-beta release will empower businesses to build AI assistants on the upgraded AI platform provided by Cohere. These assistants will leverage information from a wide range of tools used in daily work, enabling them to provide contextually relevant and accurate responses. Roy Eldar, a senior product manager at Cohere, emphasized the value of data for LLMs, stating, “Enabling enterprise models to securely access company data across dozens of third-party applications is a game changer for what AI can deliver to businesses.”
Connectors Enhance Data Integration
The blog post highlighted that the connectors are a crucial component of Cohere’s strategy to meet companies where their data resides, regardless of the cloud or third-party application they use. This allows companies to seamlessly integrate their data into the models within their own cloud, utilizing retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) to enhance the accuracy of responses and minimize errors. By integrating RAG into enterprise use cases and incorporating data from third-party data stores via connectors, Cohere has significantly improved the value proposition of conversational AI solutions for businesses.
“The seamless integration of RAG in enterprise use cases–and now leveraging data located in third-party data stores via connectors–is a dramatic improvement in the usefulness of conversational AI solutions for businesses,” said the Cohere blog post.
Additionally, Cohere announced the release of around 100 “quick start connectors” on GitHub for popular applications such as GitHub, Asana, Slack, Dropbox, Google Drive, and Pinecone. These connector templates are designed to assist in-house developers and simplify the integration process. Furthermore, Cohere stated that they can provide full support for other third-party data stores as well.
A Year of Growth and Expansion for Cohere
The announcement of the connectors feature marks the end of a successful year for Cohere. In February, the company raised $270 million in funding, which allowed it to expand its operations and establish a second headquarters in San Francisco. Despite this growth, Cohere remained under the radar until the recent drama at OpenAI involving the firing and subsequent reinstatement of CEO Sam Altman. Cohere reported seeing an increase in inquiries from businesses following the media attention surrounding Altman’s situation.
“Machine Learning Members of Technical Staff” positions were posted on Cohere’s careers page, indicating the company’s plans to capitalize on the growing demand in the industry.
