Chloe Lim · · 2 min readGrab, SG gov’t to enter partnerships with Sharpa on physical AI
With additional reporting by Jermaine Fok.
Sharpa, a Singapore-headquartered AI robotics company, will form strategic partnerships with ride-hailing firm Grab as well as local government agencies JTC and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (ASTAR), it said at an April 28 event.
The firm plans to grow its headcount to around 150 employees in Singapore, with more than 50% of them in “high-value” R&D roles. It will hire AI scientists, mechatronics specialists, and solutions engineers over the next three years.
These efforts aim to “develop the physical AI industry in Singapore,” Sharpa said, referring to the ability of robotic systems to engage with and act autonomously in the real world.
A Sharpa robot uses a camera at CES in Las Vegas. / Photo credit: Sharpa
For instance, Sharpa and the ASTAR Institute for Infocomm Research will oversee the development of AI-enabled robotic functions for container handling at ports. Such tasks include twist-lock coning and deconing, which refer to container-securing processes at terminals.
Founded in 2024, Sharpa develops general-purpose, autonomous AI robots capable of human-like dexterity, aimed to assist consumers and businesses with repetitive, labor-intensive, and high-risk tasks.
The company has manufacturing and R&D operations in Shanghai as well as business operations in California.
More deployment in Singapore
Under JTC and Sharpa’s partnership, the company will deploy a fleet of its autonomous North robots – which it debuted in January – within Singapore’s Punggol Digital District (PDD) across use cases such as retail and F&B.
Spanning 50 hectares, PDD is a business park for tech sectors including robotics, AI, and cybersecurity. It is expected to be fully completed within the year.
Besides deploying robots, Sharpa will establish an innovation lab in the district. In turn, JTC will grant the firm the use of certain facilities, including the Open Digital Platform, which offers businesses and students access to real-time district data.
Sharpa co-founder David Li said that leveraging PDD’s infrastructure will allow the company to refine its autonomous robots in a real-world setting.
With Grab, it will also explore the use of robotics in F&B operations and logistics at PDD.
See also: Robots still struggle with touch. Sharpa wants to fix that
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