The ChatGPT maker's new applied AI lab will employ more than 200 people; Google separately announced a national AI partnership with the Singapore government
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A joint statement from OpenAI and Singapore's Ministry of Digital Development and Information, released Wednesday, announced the company's pledge of more than 300 million Singapore dollars ($234 million) toward the country's AI ecosystem as part of its first overseas research lab.
OpenAI's Singapore presence dates to a 2024 office launch serving customers and partners throughout the Asia-Pacific region, and the new "OpenAI Singapore Applied AI Lab" represents the company's first lab of its kind anywhere outside the United States, according to CNBC. Headcount at the facility is projected to exceed 200 within a few years. Areas of focus include a range of sectors central to Singapore's national agenda — among them healthcare, finance, education, public services, and digital infrastructure — along with an upskilling initiative aimed at mid-career engineers. Rounding out the initiative, OpenAI intends to help build startup accelerators and develop applications oriented toward everyday citizens under a broader access program.
Google $GOOGL separately announced a national AI partnership with the Singapore government, led by the Ministry of Digital Development and Information. Unlike the OpenAI deal, Google's announcement did not include a specific investment figure, according to CNBC. The partnership spans public sector services, healthcare, education, and enterprise innovation.
A core element of Google's agreement involves Google DeepMind, which opened its Singapore research lab in November of last year. Under the partnership, Google DeepMind will explore a collaboration with public health clusters as part of its global AI co-clinician research initiative, examining how AI can support doctors and help patients navigate care. The company is also working with Singapore's National Research Foundation to train local scientists on agentic AI tools, including a hypothesis-generation capability built on its Co-Scientist platform.
On the education side, Google has provided its Gemini for Education tools to educators from primary schools to junior colleges and will expand its collaboration with Singapore's Ministry of Education on teacher training and AI upskilling programs.
A jointly authored whitepaper on deploying AI agents safely was released alongside the announcement, building on work that began when Singapore and Google launched an AI Agents Sandbox in August 2025. Google DeepMind is additionally working with Singapore's Infocomm Media Development Authority and MLCommons to develop multimodal and multilingual safety benchmarks for AI systems.
Singapore's ATxSummit technology conference served as the backdrop for both sets of announcements. Taken together, they extend a national strategy that has earmarked more than 1 billion Singapore dollars for public AI research over the five-year span running from 2025 through 2030, according to CNBC.
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