OpenAI rival Cohere launches language model API

Cohere, a startup creating large language models to rival those from OpenAI and AI2Labs, today announced the general availability of its commercial platform for app and service development. Through an API, customers can access models fine-tuned for a range of natural language applications, in some cases at a fraction of the cost of rival offerings. The pandemic has accelerated the world's digital transformation, pushing businesses to become more reliant on software to streamline their processes. As a result, the demand for natural language technology is now higher than ever -- particularly in the enterprise. According to a 2021 survey from John Snow Labs and Gradient Flow, 60% of tech leaders indicated that their natural language processing (NLP) budgets grew by at least 10% compared to 2020, while a third -- 33% -- said that their spending climbed by more than 30%.