Singapore plans to invest around US$786 million (S$1 billion) in public AI research through 2030, according to the country’s Ministry of Digital Development and Information.

The funding aims to enhance the country’s AI capabilities and competitiveness, focusing on responsible and resource-efficient AI, talent development, and industry adoption.

Previous government initiatives include around a US$393 million (S$500 million) fund in 2024 for high-performance computing infrastructure and over the same amount allocated to AI Singapore for research and development.

In 2023, AI Singapore released an open-source language model, Sea-Lion, with around US$55 million (S$70 million) in funding, which has been adopted by companies like Indonesia’s GoTo.

A newer version of Sea-Lion was launched in October 2025, built on Alibaba’s Qwen model, with improved support for languages such as Burmese, Filipino, Indonesian, Malay, Tamil, Thai, and Vietnamese.

🔗 Source: Reuters