Anthropic has opened its fifth Asia-Pacific office in Singapore and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) to cooperate on AI safety, model evaluation and responsible adoption. The agreement also covers research into AI adoption and its impact across the public and private sectors.
The Singapore office will support organisations already using Claude, including GovTech Singapore, DBS and Grab. Anthropic identifies Singapore as one of its most active markets, with Claude already powering business and government services used by millions of people daily.
“We’re committed to Singapore for the long term,” said Dale Finlay, General Manager of ASEAN at Anthropic. “Our customers here hold AI to an extremely high standard, especially when it comes to reliability and security. Having a team on the ground means we can get even closer to the organisations putting Claude to work on their hardest problems.”
MOU covers model testing, security and AI adoption
Chng Kai Fong, Permanent Secretary of MDDI, and Anthropic co-founder Ben Mann signed the agreement on 13 October on the sidelines of Singapore International Cyber Week 2026. The signing was witnessed by Josephine Teo, Minister for Digital Development and Information, and Michael Sellitto, Anthropic’s Head of APAC Policy.
Under the agreement, Anthropic plans to hold technical exchanges with Singapore’s AI safety, security and assurance institutions, covering model evaluation, testing standards and incident response. The company undertakes similar work with AI safety institutes internationally, sharing technical information to help governments understand advanced AI capabilities and risks while supporting developers in improving model safety. Anthropic’s involvement in Singapore’s AI evaluation efforts began in 2023, when it joined the Generative AI Evaluation Sandbox run by the Infocomm Media Development Authority and AI Verify Foundation, subsequently working with the organisations on a red-teaming project involving English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil.
The MOU also covers efforts to strengthen AI skills and encourage responsible adoption among small and medium-sized enterprises, alongside Anthropic’s plans to support the government’s objective of developing AI capabilities among public officers. Research and policy cooperation form another part of the agreement, with Anthropic intending to share research and data, including information from its Anthropic Economic Index, while providing technical and policy expertise as Singapore develops its AI rules.
“Singapore’s approach to AI has always been to enable innovation while keeping pace with its evolving risks. Trust is critical for businesses, workers, and the public to use AI with confidence,” said Chng. “This partnership with Anthropic reflects the Government’s commitment to scaling up the responsible adoption of AI, deepening capabilities in our companies and government agencies, and delivering impact for Singapore.”
Claude adoption extends across public services and finance
Singapore ranks second among 121 countries for Claude.ai usage relative to population, according to Anthropic’s latest Economic Index. Usage is nearly six times the level expected based on the country’s population.
Within government, more than 1,500 engineers and technical staff at the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech Singapore) have adopted Claude Code to modernise systems and accelerate software delivery. Anthropic says the technology has helped these teams develop, maintain and improve digital services more efficiently at a national scale. The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore is also exploring how Claude could strengthen the country’s cyber defence capabilities.
In the financial sector, DBS uses Claude for software development and everyday productivity across its Singapore operations as part of its broader AI efforts, operating within the bank’s strict security and governance framework. Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC, is rolling out Claude across its investment and corporate services teams. Organisations in regulated sectors, including financial services, can also run Claude with in-region inference on Amazon Bedrock, which Anthropic says can help them meet strict data processing requirements.
Local technology companies build on Claude
Grab uses Claude to power BriX, its sales assistant, which Anthropic says saves approximately 40,000 hours of work for Grab’s sales teams every quarter while helping identify new sales opportunities. At Sea, the company behind Shopee, Garena and Monee, Claude helps Shopee’s customer service chatbot respond faster and more accurately, according to Anthropic. Thousands of Sea employees also use Claude to write and debug software code, while Supabase, a developer platform with strong roots in Singapore, is building with Claude Code.
Anthropic is engaging Singapore’s developer community as it establishes its local office. Its Builder Summit Singapore on 14 October brought together more than 300 developers and Anthropic’s engineering and product leaders, following an earlier gathering organised by Singapore’s Claude community ambassadors that was attended by more than 700 local builders. Senior Anthropic leaders are meeting customers, developers and policymakers in Singapore during the office opening week, while the company is hiring for its new office.
