Singapore – Google has announced a significant expansion of its artificial intelligence investment in Singapore, growing its local research and development footprint and launching new national initiatives aligned with the country’s AI strategy.
The announcements were made at the second Google for Singapore event, attended by minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo.
Singapore has been Google’s Asia-Pacific headquarters since 2007 and is now home to nearly 3,000 employees, supported by a US$5 billion investment in technical infrastructure across four data centres and cloud regions, and the establishment of the Google DeepMind Research Lab.
Building on this foundation, Google will scale specialised local teams across software engineering, UX design, research science, and Cloud engineering, reinforcing Singapore’s role as a global R&D hub serving both regional and global markets.
Ben King, managing director of Google Singapore, said, “Our mission in Singapore has always been about empowering Singaporeans today for tomorrow. The AI era makes that mission more critical than ever. That’s why we are growing our engineering and R&D teams in the country – not just to bring Google’s technology here, but to build solutions alongside Singapore that solve its unique challenges and drive new growth.
“More importantly, we also continue to invest in the skills and training programs every person and business needs to thrive, ensuring this nation continues to lead on the global stage,” King added.
Jermaine Loy, managing director of EDB, said, “Google’s expansion of its AI and R&D activities in Singapore will anchor cutting-edge capabilities here, strengthening Singapore’s position as a global hub for innovation.”
“This investment creates exciting jobs for Singaporeans to participate at the forefront of cutting-edge technology development which will address critical global issues. Singapore looks forward to deepening our partnership with Google as we build a globally competitive and inclusive AI economy,” Loy added.
The investment is accompanied by new initiatives spanning societal impact, enterprise innovation, workforce development, and digital security.
In healthcare, Google has expanded its partnership with AI Singapore to support national AI infrastructure through access to MedGemma, while collaborating with health-tech startup AMILI on a precision nutrition programme using AI to deliver personalised lifestyle and nutrition guidance.
Google.org has also committed US$1 million to AI Singapore’s Project Aquarium to improve open-source datasets for Southeast Asian languages.
To support enterprise growth, Google unveiled the Google Cloud Singapore Engineering Center, co-located with the DeepMind Research Lab, to accelerate the translation of research into deployable products.
Moe Abdula, vice president of Customer Engineering at Google Cloud Asia Pacific, said, “By co-locating our world-class team of software engineers alongside the recently launched Google DeepMind Research Lab in Singapore, we transform research into ready-to-deploy products at rapid speed.”
Abdula further added, “This integration empowers enterprises to move fast, delivering the precision and inclusivity the Asia-Pacific market demands. This Center is the engine that propels local and regional businesses onto the global stage. We are more than a development center; we are a global launchpad, scaling regional ambitions from Singapore to the world.”
Google also introduced ‘Majulah AI’, a refreshed commitment bringing together training and acceleration programmes for jobseekers, entrepreneurs, professionals, students, and seniors.
New initiatives include Google AI Living Labs with the Ministry of Education, beginning at ITE College East, and the Skills Ignition SG AI Challenge with IMDA, targeting graduates and mid-career professionals.
Kiren Kumar, deputy chief executive of IMDA, said, “The Skills Ignition SG AI Challenge represents our commitment to ensuring Singaporeans can thrive in an AI-driven economy. By partnering with Google to bring AI fluency to professionals across diverse sectors—from accountancy to human resources—we are building a future-ready workforce that can harness its potential to drive innovation and productivity.”
To strengthen online safety, Google will establish an AI Center of Excellence for security in Singapore, roll out age assurance solutions for users under 18, and build on existing partnerships that have blocked more than 2.9 million high-risk app installation attempts over the past two years.
