Aidan Gomez on capitalism
From Gibt es für Europa und Kanada noch eine Chance auf Unabhängigkeit, Aidan Gomez? · · Handelsblatt
“Capitalism is a fantastic system. It finds extraordinarily efficient methods of delivering what the world needs and it is fantastic at aligning interests. But one thing that doesn't come naturally out of capitalism is strategic sovereign imperative. That has to be intentionally introduced. Capitalism will very happily outsource all of our critical industry to whoever sells it to us cheapest. they'll give it all away because that's the most efficient solution, but it is not the right solution for building and protecting a nation.”
On , Aidan Gomez, CEO and Cofounder at Cohere, spoke about capitalism during Gibt es für Europa und Kanada noch eine Chance auf Unabhängigkeit, Aidan Gomez? on Handelsblatt.
About Aidan Gomez
Aidan Gomez, CEO and cofounder of Cohere, has been speaking publicly about the need for Canada and Europe to develop independent technological capabilities, particularly in artificial intelligence. In a June 2026 interview, Gomez discussed Cohere's acquisition of German AI startup Aleph Alpha, a deal that German Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger personally supported. Gomez argued that over the past 30 years, Canada and Europe have experienced a "hollowing out of technological capability," creating a single point of failure by relying on technology from one source. He stated that capitalism does not naturally produce strategic sovereign imperatives and that governments must intentionally introduce such priorities. Gomez also warned that if countries do not retain the ability to protect critical infrastructure such as power grids, water systems, and financial institutions from AI-powered cyberattacks, it poses an existential risk to national security. In other appearances, Gomez addressed the AI industry's pricing divide and the cost of scaling. He said that for governments and regulated industries, Chinese AI models are not an option, and organizations that need to trust their models will pay a premium for Western, democratically aligned technology. He noted a market shift toward smaller, more efficient models as CFOs look to optimize AI spending. Gomez also emphasized the importance of private deployment of AI infrastructure to reduce vulnerability to exploitation. He described Cohere's founding in Toronto as an intentional choice to support resilience and independence, and said the company maintains a "friends with everyone" approach by not locking customers into any single cloud ecosystem.