SINGAPORE: Google DeepMind has opened a new artificial intelligence (AI) research laboratory in Singapore, focusing on collaboration with the government, businesses, civil society and academic institutions in the region.
The team in Singapore will consist of research scientists, software engineers, operations and AI impact experts, the lab under Google said on Wednesday (Nov 19).
Operations have begun and hiring is currently underway, the tech giant added.
In response to questions from the media, Google did not state how many employees it plans to hire or how much it is investing in the research lab.
Announcing the new lab at Google’s Singapore office at Mapletree Business Park on Wednesday, Ms Lila Ibrahim, chief operating officer of Google DeepMind, said that Singapore’s forward-looking approach makes it an “ideal place” for the new lab.
She added that while they are still refining their research agenda, some research areas they are leaning into include education, learning and healthcare.
The announcement event was attended by the media and partners, including members from the Economic Development Board (EDB) and AI Singapore.
DeepMind was founded in the UK in 2010 and acquired by Google in 2014. Apart from London, where it is headquartered, it also has offices in India and Japan. Singapore is its first Southeast Asian office.
The lab’s notable breakthroughs include developing AlphaGo, the first computer programme to defeat a Go world champion.
Google DeepMind is also behind Gemini, Google’s family of AI models that can understand and generate text, code, images, audio and videos.
EDB managing director Jermaine Loy said the collaboration will create new opportunities for Singapore’s talent and research community.
It will also provide them with access to “world-class AI tools” for scientific research and discovery.
Checks by CNA on job portals such as MyCareersFuture showed that the lab was hiring for roles including research scientists for multimodal generative AI, and software engineers in medical AI.
Speaking at the launch about the talent pipeline, EDB’s executive vice president, Mr Chan Ih-Ming added that many large multinationals benefit from the take-up of students from universities here.
“A big part of it will also be engaging with the global community, and I think we continue to be open to people who are already at the top of their game,” he said.
Dr Leslie Teo, senior director of AI Products at AI Singapore, said that the team’s expertise will accelerate their work to build large language models (LLMs) that are more representative of the region’s context.
Already, Google has collaborated with AI Singapore to develop SEA-LION, a multilingual LLM.
The launch of the new AI lab comes on the back of Singapore’s increased investment in the field.
A recent report by Google, Temasek, and Bain and Company found that private AI funding in Singapore surged 55 per cent from the second half of 2024 to the first half of 2025.
CNA has reached out to EDB for comment on how Google’s move fits into Singapore’s AI strategy.
Singapore rolled out its updated National AI Strategy (NAIS) 2.0 in December 2023, with the aim of more than tripling the number of AI practitioners here to 15,000.
NAIS 2.0 had set out Singapore’s aspirations to be a global leader in “choice AI areas that are economically impactful and serve the public good”.
The country has since drawn tech companies such as ChatGPT maker, Open AI, to set up office here in 2024.
Other firms, such as AI automation firm Workato and Microsoft, also launched AI labs in Singapore this year.
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The team in Singapore will consist of research scientists, software engineers, operations and AI impact experts, the lab under Google said on Wednesday (Nov 19).
Operations have begun and hiring is currently underway, the tech giant added.
In response to questions from the media, Google did not state how many employees it plans to hire or how much it is investing in the research lab.
Announcing the new lab at Google’s Singapore office at Mapletree Business Park on Wednesday, Ms Lila Ibrahim, chief operating officer of Google DeepMind, said that Singapore’s forward-looking approach makes it an “ideal place” for the new lab.
She added that while they are still refining their research agenda, some research areas they are leaning into include education, learning and healthcare.
The announcement event was attended by the media and partners, including members from the Economic Development Board (EDB) and AI Singapore.
DeepMind was founded in the UK in 2010 and acquired by Google in 2014. Apart from London, where it is headquartered, it also has offices in India and Japan. Singapore is its first Southeast Asian office.
The lab’s notable breakthroughs include developing AlphaGo, the first computer programme to defeat a Go world champion.
Google DeepMind is also behind Gemini, Google’s family of AI models that can understand and generate text, code, images, audio and videos.
NATIONAL AI STRATEGY
EDB managing director Jermaine Loy said the collaboration will create new opportunities for Singapore’s talent and research community.
It will also provide them with access to “world-class AI tools” for scientific research and discovery.
Checks by CNA on job portals such as MyCareersFuture showed that the lab was hiring for roles including research scientists for multimodal generative AI, and software engineers in medical AI.
Speaking at the launch about the talent pipeline, EDB’s executive vice president, Mr Chan Ih-Ming added that many large multinationals benefit from the take-up of students from universities here.
“A big part of it will also be engaging with the global community, and I think we continue to be open to people who are already at the top of their game,” he said.
Dr Leslie Teo, senior director of AI Products at AI Singapore, said that the team’s expertise will accelerate their work to build large language models (LLMs) that are more representative of the region’s context.
Already, Google has collaborated with AI Singapore to develop SEA-LION, a multilingual LLM.
The launch of the new AI lab comes on the back of Singapore’s increased investment in the field.
A recent report by Google, Temasek, and Bain and Company found that private AI funding in Singapore surged 55 per cent from the second half of 2024 to the first half of 2025.
CNA has reached out to EDB for comment on how Google’s move fits into Singapore’s AI strategy.
Singapore rolled out its updated National AI Strategy (NAIS) 2.0 in December 2023, with the aim of more than tripling the number of AI practitioners here to 15,000.
NAIS 2.0 had set out Singapore’s aspirations to be a global leader in “choice AI areas that are economically impactful and serve the public good”.
The country has since drawn tech companies such as ChatGPT maker, Open AI, to set up office here in 2024.
Other firms, such as AI automation firm Workato and Microsoft, also launched AI labs in Singapore this year.
Continue reading...