TD and Cohere’s strategic collaboration will bring together leading research, talent and expertise from both to boost AI development and adoption
TORONTO, Sept. 22, 2026 /CNW/ — Building on its five-year, $150 billion commitment to accelerate investment, growth and innovation across sectors critical to Canada’s economic future, TD Bank Group (“TD” or the “Bank”) today announced an initial investment of up to $25 million over three years to support AI development and adoption.
The strategic collaboration between Layer 6, a globally recognized leader in AI research and development, and Cohere, the world’s leading sovereign AI company, will explore how Canadian AI innovation can be applied within TD to improve productivity, strengthen decision-making and create better experiences for clients. The collaboration brings together Cohere’s secure enterprise AI models and technical expertise with Layer 6’s applied research capabilities and deep understanding of TD to explore practical, high-value applications of AI across the Bank.
Areas of focus will include knowledge management with a focus on practical value, security and responsible adoption. A dedicated team of Cohere experts will work alongside Layer 6 at the MaRS Discovery District location, bringing technical expertise closer to the teams identifying, developing and applying high-value AI use cases.
“Canada has extraordinary AI talent, research and companies. The opportunity now is to connect that strength and translate it into practical applications that create value for clients,” said Rizwan Khalfan, Executive Vice President and Vice Chair, Strategic Growth, Innovation and Partnerships, TD. “Our collaboration with Cohere brings together expertise, experimentation and real-world application in ways that can help Canada lead not only in AI innovation, but also in responsible adoption.”
The collaboration will complement the Bank’s efforts to advance AI literacy, research and knowledge sharing across Canada. Through research, expert perspectives, educational content, and engagement with innovators, researchers, and business leaders, TD aims to help strengthen the understanding of emerging AI opportunities and risks and contribute to responsible adoption of AI.
“Cohere was founded in Canada with a mission to help enterprises and governments adopt AI securely and effectively,” said François Chadwick, Chief Financial Officer at Cohere. “We’re excited to collaborate with the Bank’s Layer 6 team to explore practical applications of enterprise AI that can strengthen productivity, enhance client experiences and support the responsible adoption of AI.”
The collaboration builds on the expertise of Layer 6, which has helped shape TD leadership in machine learning, predictive analytics, and AI.
“World-class AI research creates the greatest impact when it is driven by real-world challenges,” said Maks Volkovs, Co-founder and Chief AI Scientist, Layer 6. “This collaboration is an opportunity to translate AI advances into practical solutions that improve productivity, strengthen decision-making and create better experiences, while helping our clients and colleagues navigate an increasingly digital economy.”
These efforts support the Bank’s broader investments in Canada’s AI ecosystem, including the recently announced a $1 million donation to TechSpark’s AI Lit for Entrepreneurs accelerator program, which provides underrepresented founders with training, tools and resources to help build scalable, future-ready businesses.
About TD Bank Group
The Toronto-Dominion Bank and its subsidiaries are collectively known as TD Bank Group (“TD” or the “Bank”). TD is the sixth largest bank in North America by assets and serves 28.2 million clients in four key businesses operating in a number of locations in financial centres around the globe: Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking, including TD Canada Trust and TD Auto Finance Canada; U.S. Banking, including TD Auto Finance U.S. and TD Wealth (U.S.); Wealth Management and Insurance, including TD Wealth (Canada), TD Direct Investing and TD Insurance; and Wholesale Banking, including TD Securities and TD Cowen. TD also ranks among North America’s leading digital banks, with more than 14 million active mobile users in Canada and the U.S. TD had $2.1 trillion in assets on July 31, 2026. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades under the symbol “TD” on the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange.
About Cohere
Cohere, founded in 2019, is the world’s leading sovereign AI company building foundation models and end-to-end AI products to solve real-world business problems. We partner with organizations to deliver seamless integration, deep customization, and user-friendly solutions. Our all-in-one platform provides maximum security, privacy, and deployment flexibility across clouds, private on-premises environments, and even fully air-gapped settings. Headquartered globally in Toronto, San Francisco, and Germany, Cohere operates additional offices in London, New York, Montreal, Paris, and Seoul, serving customers worldwide, The company has raised ~$1.6BUSD from strategic tech investors (Nvidia, AMD Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Oracle, Cisco), institutional investors (Radical Ventures, Inovia Capital, PSP Investments, HOOPP, BDC, Nexxus), and AI pioneers including Geoffrey Hinton, Fei–Fei Li, Pieter Abbeel, and Raquel Urtasun. For more information, visit cohere.com.
SOURCE TD Bank Group
