Google DeepMind opens AI research lab in Singapore, its first in Southeast Asia

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.