OpenAI, NVIDIA, and KPMG among major firms that have set up AI centres, labs in Singapore

Anthropic is the latest major artificial intelligence laboratory to plan a presence in Singapore, following similar moves by rivals OpenAI and Google DeepMind.

Over the past two years, many firms have also set up AI centres of excellence in Singapore to promote the use of the technology in various sectors. There are more than 70 of such centres of excellence to date.

These add to a S$1 billion five-year national plan to boost AI research in public institutions.

The five-year plan, slated to last until 2030, will see the setup of research centres of excellence, which will complement the current network of more than 70 AI centres of excellence.

These centre openings are part of the National AI Strategy 2.0 to position Singapore as a global hub where real-world uses of AI are showcased. Here is a look at some key openings.
 

1. OpenAI

In May, ChatGPT creator OpenAI committed more than S$300 million to establish an Applied AI Lab in Singapore, its first outside the United States. The lab will focus on using AI in public services, finance, and healthcare sectors, and digital infrastructure here.

No timeframe was given for the S$300 million commitment.

It will also launch a forward-deployed engineer training programme as part of an agreement with the Ministry of Digital Development and Information to create more than 200 Singapore-based technical roles over the next few years.

A forward-deployed engineer is a hybrid business-technical role for software engineers. Such engineers work directly with companies on real-world business problems to solve pain points and unlock new sources of value.
 

2. NVIDIA

In May, the US-based chipmaker announced plans to set up its first research lab in Singapore, its second in the Asia-Pacific. The lab will focus on developing embodied AI, such as robots and autonomous vehicles. It will also focus on lowering computing costs and improving the energy efficiency of large-scale AI infrastructure.

NVIDIA’s lab is expected to be aligned with Singapore’s multi-operator robot testbed in the Punggol Digital District, where companies like Grab, DHL, and Certis are already testing robots for security, cleaning, and delivery.
 

3. Temus

In May, Temasek-backed digital services firm, Temus, established a local foundry to bridge the gap between AI experimentation and live production. It is hiring and training 50 AI professionals to work with companies here to accelerate enterprise AI adoption in fields such as precision health and financial services.

Some early projects include an agentic AI assistant for an investment company, and an AI-powered lead management system for a telecommunications provider.

4. KPMG

In May, KPMG launched its Trusted Artificial Intelligence Centre of Excellence, where all products will be developed and tested before they are offered to clients.

Supported by the Economic Development Board, the centre aims to help companies scale AI adoption with confidence. This is accompanied by its Trusted AI Assurance, an assessment tool for when and if companies should use AI.

5. Mastercard

In April, Mastercard announced plans to open a regional AI centre of excellence in Singapore later in the year. This will be its largest innovation space in Asia-Pacific.

One key programme is the Mastercard Agent Pay, announced at the same launch. This protects users by ensuring that AI agent-driven purchases are verified through biometric authentication.

The Singapore AI centre will develop innovations in payments, fraud detection, cybersecurity, and real-time risk management.
 

6. Sea Group

The multinational tech conglomerate behind brands such as Shopee and Garena announced in April the launch of an AI centre of excellence in Singapore, with support from Digital Industry Singapore.

Its priorities include improving its AI models for e-commerce applications in Southeast Asian languages. The centre is also expected to create demand for at least 100 roles in Singapore, with activities spanning AI research, engineering, and product development.
 

7. Singtel

In February, Singtel announced the launch of a centre of excellence for applied AI with NVIDIA to test AI solutions in a real-world setting. This is part of its aim to create a trusted AI ecosystem for Singapore.

Through the use of NVIDIA’s infrastructure and Singtel’s AI cloud, the centre will allow organisations and government agencies to progress from trials to larger-scale deployments.
 

8. Japfa

Under an AI and quantum computing centre of excellence launched in October 2025, the agriculture and food company aims to address challenges in livestock farming and food production by working with tertiary institutions and startups.

The firm has signed several agreements, including a collaboration with the Singapore Institute of Technology in using computer vision to support food-processing quality inspections. It will also develop AI prototype solutions with Nanyang Polytechnic, and provide training to cultivate digital talent.

These partnerships will build on the firm’s growing use of AI in the region, which includes test pilots in Indonesia and Vietnam that use AI to monitor farm operations in real time.

9. Google DeepMind

Through a new AI research lab established in November 2025, the US tech giant aims to improve its AI model’s capabilities in understanding regional languages, cultural nuances, and culturally relevant visual cues.

It is working with AI Singapore on Project Aquarium, a platform that sources for data on Southeast Asian languages. This is expected to boost Singapore’s home-grown AI model Sea-Lion, which recognises 13 regional languages, including Malay, Tamil, Thai, and Vietnamese.

Google’s primary AI research team will also partner local agencies and academic institutions to improve AI model Gemini’s reasoning capabilities and create solutions to tackle global issues such as energy, healthcare, and climate.
 

10. Razer

The home-grown gaming firm established an AI centre of excellence at its Southeast Asian headquarters in August 2025, and announced plans to hire 150 engineers, data scientists, and game developers to help the company embrace AI in its core operations.

The centre aims to create more tools to engage gamers and help developers automate with AI, tasks that these 150 hires are expected to be familiar with.

One of its existing AI tools is the Razer QA Companion, which provides quality assurance testing and bug detection to lower production cost and halve the time needed to commercialise games.

The tool was in beta testing with over 50 unnamed game studios and independent studios.

The firm also plans to work with AI Singapore and institutes of higher learning to provide practical training in AI and machine learning via internships and work attachments.
 

11. Microsoft Research Asia

Microsoft’s first research lab in Southeast Asia was launched in July 2025. It aims to create AI models that can help local manufacturers manage the increased costs linked to supply chain disruptions, among others. The lab is staffed by a team of newly hired researchers located at the company’s office in Cecil Street.

The firm will also seek local collaborators to apply advanced AI technologies in other key domains such as finance and healthcare. For instance, it hopes to create an AI model that can take in news insights and earnings reports of companies to predict more accurately the direction that markets will move in.
 

12. Grab

The ride-hailing operator launched its AI centre of excellence at its one-north headquarters in May 2025 and announced plans to hire at least 50 product, engineering, data science, and analytics professionals by the end of 2025.

So far, Grab has integrated an AI voice assistant feature to allow visually impaired users to book rides using voice commands. The tool uses OpenAI’s large language model and is fine-tuned with voice samples provided by local employees so that it can understand Singaporean accents and pronunciations.

Another tool in the pipeline involves the collection of data from onboard dashcams to capture incidents of flooding, heavy rain, and traffic conditions so that drivers can receive accurate flood alerts. This would, in turn, minimise traffic disruption during heavy rain.
 

13. SIT x NVIDIA AI Centre

Since its opening in 2024, the centre established by SIT and chipmaking giant NVIDIA has worked with 70 companies to develop 50 AI solutions in the manufacturing, healthcare, and transport sectors.

In October 2025, it also launched an initiative to train more than 200 fresh graduates and mid-career professionals over the next three years to become AI practitioners.

Participants would be taught to use AI tools, libraries, and algorithms to develop AI applications. 

They would also work on projects with industry partners to solve real-world business problems with AI, supervised by instructors and experts from the centre and SIT.
 

14. UBS

Singapore is home to the Swiss bank’s largest and first AI and transformation factory, launched in November 2024. With more than 150 employees consisting of programmers, data scientists, and product managers, the factory is one of more than 70 AI centres of excellence that have been set up in Singapore.

Products developed in-house include an AI-powered tool that does background checks on wealth management clients. The tool has reduced the time spent on a manual process that takes two weeks.

Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.