Cohere vs. OpenAI: What’s the Difference?

Written by Coursera Staff • Updated on

Explore the features of OpenAI and Cohere. Discover how these AI companies are different and what you can use their models for.

[Featured Image] A businesswoman is on a laptop using an OpenAI resource to streamline operations for her company.

OpenAI and Cohere are among the most prominent names in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. These two companies operate at the forefront of AI innovation, bringing unique technologies and approaches that shape the future of AI solutions. OpenAI's mission is to ensure AI benefits all of humanity, while Cohere aims to enable businesses to leverage AI to enhance their operations. These disparities between big industry leaders will only become more significant as the world's reliance on AI grows. Knowing the differences between these two companies can help you choose the more suitable option for your circumstances.

Learn more about Cohere vs. OpenAI, including the differences in their uses, advantages, and disadvantages.

What is Cohere?

Cohere is a Canadian company specializing in AI, specifically natural language processing (NLP) technologies. Cohere offers NLP solutions without the need for costly machine learning development thanks to its state-of-the-art large language models, which the company trains on supercomputers built on Transformer architecture. The Cohere NLP platform allows businesses to integrate NLP capabilities with tools like chatbots while simplifying the process for developers to incorporate NLP models into apps, without requiring in-house AI knowledge.

What is Cohere used for?

You can use Cohere’s AI-powered solutions to increase sales, enhance customer support, and automate operations. Its products are simple to use and work well with current business systems. Cohere particularly focuses on helping companies maximize their business operations. You can also use Cohere for application development as the intuitive application programming interface (API) simplifies integration into applications, improving both functionality and performance.

Advantages of Cohere

There are several advantages to Cohere, such as its affordability and ease of setup. Other benefits of using Cohere include the following: 

  • Customizable: Cohere collaborates directly with clients to create solutions that specifically address their needs. Utilizing a network of system integrators and consultancy partners, Cohere can support businesses at any point in their AI journey.

  • Security compliant: Cohere complies with international data protection and security frameworks (SOC2, GDPR, etc.), addressing safety and security as a primary priority.

  • Accessible: Connecting to and accessing information from documents and enterprise data sources is straightforward, enabling the creation of more robust AI applications.

Disadvantages of Cohere

While Cohere has a variety of strengths, it also has a handful of weaknesses, including the following:

  • Less accurate than competitors: Cohere's model outperforms only the GPT-3 models. OpenAI's more recent GPT-3.5 models, text-davinci-002 and text-davinci-003, are currently rated more accurate than Cohere.

  • Dropdown menu issues: Some users have experienced difficulties interacting with dropdown menus during calls, which can reduce the software's functionality. 

  • Functionality issues: Clients using Safari or with ad-blockers installed may encounter dropped connections, freezing, and other functional problems.

It’s worth mentioning that Cohere is constantly re-tuning and updating its new models on a weekly basis, so these issues are being actively worked on and may face resolution in future development.

What is OpenAI?

OpenAI is a technology company and research organization focused on developing artificial general intelligence (AGI) aimed at benefiting humanity. The organization engages in advanced testing across machine learning, deep learning, reinforcement learning, and related areas, striving to expand AI capabilities while addressing ethical issues. Additionally, OpenAI offers a variety of products, including various Chat-GPT models, APIs for building new AI models, and AI models specifically designed for businesses. 

What is OpenAI used for?

OpenAI has a variety of uses, including a handful of for-business applications to help empower your employees, streamline operations, and improve products with cutting-edge AI solutions. You can also use OpenAI’s GPT-4 (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) for text generation, translation, summarization, and question-answering. It supports multiple languages and adapts to different contexts, making it highly versatile for various uses. Furthermore, OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Codex can simplify software development by helping you write complex coding tasks.

Advantages of OpenAI

OpenAI’s products and services provide a large variety of benefits, like providing unique AI models for businesses and the company’s emphasis on safety. Other advantages of using OpenAI products include the following: 

  • Industry-leading: According to Stanford’s recent language model evaluation, OpenAI’s GPT-4o ranks number one in accuracy over other comparable language models [1]. 

  • Advanced text generation: OpenAI’s GPT-4 excels at producing coherent and contextually relevant text, making it ideal for creative writing, content creation, and other applications.

  • Innovation: OpenAI continually advances the frontiers of AI research, resulting in groundbreaking products and services that have the potential to revolutionize industries and enhance lives.

Disadvantages of OpenAI

Using OpenAI models and API also has drawbacks, such as: 

  • Cost: Although some of its products provide free tiers, utilizing the full capabilities of its models can be costly, particularly for businesses with high usage levels.

  • Lack of transparency: The complexity of OpenAI models can hinder developers' understanding of their data processing and decision-making, raising interpretability and privacy concerns. Additionally, as a private company, OpenAI may not fully disclose its technology, further limiting transparency.

  • Limited control: As a user of its products and services, you have a restricted ability to influence the models and their behaviors, which can be an issue for businesses needing customization or specific results.

Other things to consider when choosing Cohere vs. OpenAI

Recognizing the distinctions between these companies can assist you in selecting the best option for your needs. Notably, the primary difference is in their mission statements—OpenAI is dedicated to democratizing access and advancing AGI development, while Cohere focuses on enterprise solutions—which adds to the diverse landscape of AI innovation. Another variation to consider is that Cohere provides models that can be deployed in multiple environments, whereas OpenAI's model requires that data be solely hosted on Azure. As AI evolves, keeping up with the latest advancements from leading companies can help you maximize the potential of the available technology. 

Getting started with AI on Coursera

Numerous AI-oriented courses are available on Coursera to aid your understanding of AI and what it can do for you. To learn more about AI models and how they can transform your business, consider enrolling in Vanderbilt University’s Generative AI Automation Specialization. This beginner-level program is designed to help learners perform complex tasks effortlessly using generative AI.

Article sources

  1. Stanford. “Holistic Evaluation of Language Models (Helm), crfm.stanford.edu/helm/lite/latest/#/leaderboard.” Accessed February 10, 2025.

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