- Singapore allocated $742M over 5 years to advance its national AI ambitions and strategy.
- The funding will expand Singapore’s AI workforce and bring in partners for advanced research centers.
- Singapore aims to establish itself as an AI leader beyond Southeast Asia.
Singapore’s AI ambition
Determined to establish itself as an AI leader, Singapore is investing S$1 billion ($742 million) over five years to develop local talent, secure vital hardware, and collaborate with top industry partners.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong unveiled the budget allocation during his 2024 fiscal policy speech.
The funding will support efforts to expand Singapore’s specialist AI workforce, ensure access to critical semiconductors needed for AI processing, and bring leading companies on board to establish advanced AI research centers.
$1 billion AI investment
Wong emphasized that extensive AI integration across pharmaceutical research, logistics, and other economic sectors is indispensable for boosting national productivity.
The investment builds on Singapore’s revised National AI Strategy announced late last year, which focuses on nurturing homegrown AI experts while also recruiting global talent for spearheading innovative development and real-world applications locally.
National AI strategy
Singapore is also pioneering Southeast Asia’s first large language model, which is able to understand the region’s diverse cultures and languages.
While some suggest Singapore concentrate on specialized domains like Southeast Asia-focused language models rather than directly rivaling massive models like GPT-4, the national budget allocation signals a clear determination to achieve global AI leadership.
