The Ministry of Digital Development and Information said the funding will be directed toward key research priorities, including building responsible, trustworthy and resource-efficient AI systems. The investment will also support talent development across the education pipeline—from pre-university students to university faculty—aimed at strengthening Singapore’s long-term AI expertise.
In addition, part of the funding will be allocated to strengthening the nation’s capacity to adopt and deploy AI across industries, supporting broader commercial and societal use of the technology.
The announcement comes amid a broader wave of AI investment by Singapore’s government. In 2024, the country set aside S$500 million to secure high-performance computing infrastructure needed for AI innovation across both public and private sectors. The government has also committed more than S$500 million to AI research and development through AI Singapore, a national programme designed to deepen AI capabilities.
AI Singapore has also been active in developing open-source AI tools. In 2023, researchers released an open-source large language model called Southeast Asian Languages in One Network (Sea-Lion), backed by S$70 million in funding. The model has been adopted by regional companies, including Indonesia’s GoTo.
A more recent version of Sea-Lion was released in October 2025, built on Alibaba’s Qwen foundation model. The update included improvements in several regional languages, including Burmese, Filipino, Indonesian, Malay, Tamil, Thai and Vietnamese.
Singapore’s latest investment signals a continued push to anchor the country as a leading AI hub, combining research excellence with practical industry adoption.