New AI Lab in Singapore
Google DeepMind has officially opened a new artificial intelligence (AI) research laboratory in Singapore, its first in Southeast Asia. The lab will focus on collaboration with the government, businesses, civil society, and academic institutions in the region.
According to Google, the Singapore team will include research scientists, software engineers, operations staff, and AI impact experts. Operations have already begun, and hiring is currently underway. When asked about staff numbers and investment, Google did not provide specific figures.
Focus Areas and Research Agenda
The lab was announced at Google’s Singapore office, located at Mapletree Business Park, on November 19. Ms. Lila Ibrahim, Chief Operating Officer of Google DeepMind, said Singapore’s forward-looking approach makes it an “ideal place” for the new lab. She added that while the research agenda is still being refined, some areas they are leaning into include “education, learning, and healthcare.”
The launch event was attended by media and partners, including representatives from the Economic Development Board (EDB) and AI Singapore.
DeepMind’s Global Presence and Achievements
DeepMind was founded in the United Kingdom in 2010 and acquired by Google in 2014. Besides its London headquarters, it has offices in India and Japan. Singapore has now become its first office in Southeast Asia. The lab is behind major breakthroughs such as AlphaGo, the first computer program to defeat a Go world champion, and Gemini, Google’s family of AI models capable of understanding and generating text, code, images, audio, and videos.
Opportunities for Talent and Research
EDB managing director Jermaine Loy said the collaboration will create new opportunities for Singapore’s talent and research community. It will also provide access to “world-class AI tools” for scientific research and discovery.
Job portals such as MyCareersFuture show openings for research scientists in multimodal generative AI and software engineers in medical AI. Speaking about talent development, EDB executive vice president Mr Chan Ih-Ming said, “A big part of it will also be engaging with the global community, and I think we continue to be open to people who are already at the top of their game.”
Dr Leslie Teo, senior director of AI Products at AI Singapore, added that the team’s expertise will accelerate their work to build large language models that are more representative of the region. Google has already collaborated with AI Singapore to develop SEA-LION, a multilingual large language model.
Singapore’s AI Strategy
The launch comes amid increased investment in AI. A report by Google, Temasek, and Bain and Company found that private AI funding in Singapore surged 55% from the second half of 2024 to the first half of 2025. Singapore’s updated National AI Strategy 2.0, released in December 2023, aims to more than triple the number of AI practitioners to 15,000.
NAIS 2.0 sets Singapore’s goal to be a global leader in “choice AI areas that are economically impactful and serve the public good.” This strategy has attracted tech firms such as OpenAI, Workato, and Microsoft to establish AI labs in Singapore this year.
