Singapore is set to expand its artificial intelligence (AI) strategy by developing a wider pool of early adopters across various professions, aiming to complement its existing focus on training data scientists and machine learning engineers. This move is part of the government’s broader plan to strengthen the nation’s position in the global AI race, particularly as a small state competing with global powers like the United States and China.
Encouraging adoption across professions
Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo revealed the initiative during the Fortune Brainstorm AI conference on 22 July, held at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore. In a fireside chat titled “Beyond scale: How small nations can lead in the age of AI”, she said that Singapore’s strategy involves nurturing AI-savvy professionals beyond the tech sector.
“We’re talking about people who are in the professions – lawyers, accountants, doctors – who will become the early adopters of AI, and then they show their peers how to make better use of it,” said Mrs Teo. These individuals would play a key role in demonstrating how AI could drive greater value in their respective fields.
Singapore’s workforce, comprising around 3.5 million people across manufacturing, healthcare, and financial services, offers significant potential for wider AI applications. Mrs Teo emphasised that more details will be announced soon on how the broader workforce will be equipped with AI skills.
This initiative builds on a previously announced plan to triple the number of AI practitioners in Singapore to 15,000. That group includes engineers and data scientists responsible for creating real-world applications using AI technology.
Innovating through niche opportunities
During her session, Mrs Teo also highlighted the importance of smaller countries identifying unique areas for innovation, rather than competing solely on scale. She cited the example of China’s DeepSeek, a generative AI model launched in January 2025. The model reportedly cost just US$5.6 million to train, significantly less than the vast sums invested by major US tech firms in their large language models.
“From the perspective of bringing down costs, innovations such as DeepSeek are very much welcome,” Mrs Teo said.
Singapore has also been investing in its niche innovations. One such project is Sea-Lion, a large language model developed by AI Singapore. Trained on 13 languages—ranging from Javanese and Vietnamese to English and Chinese—Sea-Lion is tailored to understand better and respond within the Southeast Asian context.
“We know that large language models that are trained primarily on a Western corpus… They will have difficulties being applied in the Southeast Asian context,” Mrs Teo said.
She added that AI models need to be built on data relevant to the region to meet the requirements of both Singapore and its neighbours. Sea-Lion has already seen adoption by companies such as Indonesia’s GoTo Group, which is using the model as a foundation for its own AI systems.
Mrs Teo noted that Singapore’s innovation space is broadened when cost efficiency and model interoperability are taken into account, allowing the country to deliver AI tools that are both relevant and competitive.
Maintaining balance amid global AI tensions
In response to a question about Singapore’s position amid increasing geopolitical tension between the US and China, Mrs Teo stressed the importance of engagement and mutual understanding. She referenced ongoing dialogues with both nations—discussions with the US on critical and emerging technologies and with China on digital policy.
“They cover different areas of interest that we mutually believe are important for our own countries, but it doesn’t prevent us from seeking to understand each other’s concerns better, and continuing to find ways to move forward,” she said.
She also highlighted Singapore’s work with ASEAN countries to promote shared values in AI governance. While the region may not yet be ready to establish common AI standards, Mrs Teo said there is space to agree on foundational ethical principles.
With these combined efforts—expanding talent, fostering innovation, and maintaining balanced international relations—Singapore aims to strengthen its role as a forward-looking leader in AI on the global stage.
