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Renald Yeo · · 3 min readOpenAI doubles down on Singapore to capture AI spike in APAC
OpenAI’s Singapore office is emerging as a key pillar in its global expansion efforts. This comes as the company prepares to pour billions into data center infrastructure to support explosive ChatGPT demand.
OpenAI recently announced that ChatGPT had crossed 800 million weekly active users. COO Brad Lightcap says that serving AI at that scale requires data infrastructure investments at an equal scale.
“We’re going to continue to invest behind growth and demand, and if that brings us to Singapore or anywhere else, we’re very open to it,” Lightcap tells The Business Times.
OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap / Photo credit: Tay Chu Yi, The Business Times
OpenAI, which opened its Singapore office at the end of 2024, also plans to expand its headcount in the city-state to 50 by the end of the year. It currently has 30 employees in the country.
The immediate priority is to hire external-facing roles that serve clients, though recruitment will also extend “across the entire spectrum” of functions. Lightcap expects that Singapore will become one of OpenAI’s larger offices in the Asia Pacific, as the firm needs to support a high level of interest and demand from the region.
OpenAI has forged partnerships with several firms in the city-state, such as Grab, Sea, telco provider Circles, and the Singapore Tourism Board.
See also: Grab’s AI leap began with a cold stop on engineering
The ChatGPT maker’s Singapore office was its second Asia-Pacific outpost after Tokyo. In September, it opened an office in Seoul and has plans to launch in New Delhi and Sydney by the end of 2025.
Earlier in October, OpenAI signed a series of agreements with the South Korean government to explore the building of data centers there. It also announced partnerships with chipmakers Samsung and SK Hynix to supply chips and other components for OpenAI’s US$500 billion Stargate initiative.
The company’s expansion across the Asia Pacific comes amid surging ChatGPT usage in the region, with weekly user numbers up 4x from a year ago.
The Asia Pacific now accounts for more weekly users than any other region, Lightcap notes, though OpenAI does not disclose country-specific figures.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman / Photo credit: Antonello Marangi / Shutterstock
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OpenAI plans to expand its headcount in Singapore, and its COO Brad Lightcap expects the city-state to be one of its larger offices in APAC.
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