2026 Outlook: What’s next for tech – and the top stories of 2025

SINGAPORE - More advanced autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) systems and a new agency to provide quicker redress for victims of online harms are some of the key developments in 2025 that will take shape in 2026.

Investors and businesses were bullish about the potential of AI in transforming work processes. But the potential harms enabled by AI have also spooked the sector, leading to

the tightening of rules

.

The Straits Times looks at what is to come in 2026, and key developments in 2025.

1. Online Safety Commission

A new one-stop government agency will be set up by June 2026 to facilitate the swift takedown of harmful content.

The

Online Safety Commission (OSC)

will initially focus on helping victims of online harassment, doxing, online stalking, intimate image abuse and image-based child abuse.

It will progressively deal with online impersonation, AI deepfake abuse, online instigation of disproportionate harm, incitement of violence and enmity, non-consensual disclosure of private information, as well as the publication of false material or reputationally harmful statements.

Deepfake abuse has become easier to create due to the prevalence of generative AI tools. A

survey by the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA)

in 2025 found that only one in four people here was able to distinguish between deepfake and legitimate content, which experts said is eroding digital trust.

The OSC, which drew lessons from Australia’s eSafety Commissioner that was set up in 2015, will issue directions to platforms, administrators of groups or pages, content communicators, internet service providers or app stores to take down harmful content, restrict the perpetrator’s online account, or allow the victim to post a reply.

2. Countering deepfakes

Singapore’s initiative to build online trust and safety will begin to bear fruit in 2026 with the expected launch of a free online tool to help online users discern between real and manipulated content, which is increasingly becoming harder to identify.

The free tool called Provo

will allow organisations and individuals to embed labels in their content

, which can then be inspected by users, regardless of where the content is reposted or shared.

The labels carry metadata such as the original publisher, the date the content was first posted, and any edits made before the content was posted. If a photo or video has been manipulated by an unauthorised party, these labels that mark its authenticity will be automatically removed.

Provo will be among the first tools rolled out by the Centre for Advanced Technologies in Online Safety, which was set up by the Ministry of Digital Development and Information in 2024 to help online users here keep pace with scammers and online risks. The most worrisome is the misuse of deepfakes to create compelling pitches.

Hosted by A*STAR, the centre will receive $50 million in funding over five years under Singapore’s

Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025 Plan

.

3. Public service AI agents, robots

Public agencies CSA, the Government Technology Agency of Singapore and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) have begun trialling AI agents to improve public services such as aiding social service workers in navigating administrative paperwork for clients.

These tasks were previously done by humans and require coordination across teams. But thanks to improved AI reasoning, the agents are expected to be capable of planning and acting on a user’s behalf.

Increased use of AI is expected in 2026 to improve the efficiency of public services. These include helping citizens connect with the relevant agencies when applying for business licences, and automatically making appointments.

Similarly, expect more autonomous robots to be seen on Singapore streets and in malls starting from 2026 as part of a government-led push.

Under a new government-led initiative

dubbed Autonomous Mobile Robot x Digital Leaders

, 500 enterprises will be expected to adopt these robots in their operations over the next three years for productivity gains.

Robots are expected to perform mundane tasks, including cleaning, surveillance, and food and beverage delivery. In Singapore’s dense urban environment, robots must also interoperate seamlessly with lifts, doors, building systems and other robots.

4. Singapore’s first commercial quantum computer

For the first time, a new quantum computer will be commercially available to companies here for a range of tasks, including the discovery of new drugs and financial derivative pricing in banking.

The

Helios quantum computer

will be the second of its kind to be set up here, and the first to be used for commercial purposes. This new set-up comes under a partnership inked between Singapore’s National Quantum Office and US-based firm Quantinuum, which builds quantum computers.

Researchers from A*STAR’s Institute of High Performance Computing will be among the first users, and they will initially focus on drug discovery, financial modelling and logistics optimisation.

Unlike traditional computers that store information as either zeros or ones, quantum computers use quantum bits (qubits) to represent and store information in a complex mix of both numbers simultaneously. These computers become exponentially more powerful as the number of qubits grows, allowing them to examine countless possibilities to pinpoint a probable solution in hours. A similar task would take a traditional computer hundreds and thousands of years to do so.

5. Digital Infrastructure Act

New legislation, which was initially planned for roll-out in 2025, is expected to be tabled in 2026 to hold cloud service providers and data centre operators accountable to higher security and resilience standards.

This is because cloud service players and data centres are the backbone of digital services used by enterprises and consumers daily, such as online banking and payments, e-government services, ride-hailing and digital identity management.

The new

Digital Infrastructure Act (DIA) was first mooted in 2024

, on the back of a string of outages in the banking and healthcare sectors that lasted for several hours.

For instance, some 2.5 million payment and ATM transactions could not be completed during an outage that

hit DBS Bank and Citibank

on Oct 14, 2023. A fault in the cooling system of an Equinix data centre used by both banks caused the outage.

In February,

guidelines issued by IMDA

stated that cloud service and data centre operators must perform background checks on all employees and due diligence on third-party service providers. Part of these guidelines is expected to be incorporated into the DIA.

A look back at 2025

1. Attack by state-linked malicious actor UNC3886

In July 2025, Singapore

revealed that cyberespionage group UNC3886

was behind ongoing attacks on parts of the nation’s critical information infrastructure that powers essential services.

Affected sectors were not disclosed. But the authorities described the threat as serious, warning that it has the potential to undermine national security. Since the attacks, various sectors in Singapore have stepped up vigilance. The 11 critical services sectors include security and emergency services, water, and banking and finance.

UNC3886 is

an advanced persistent threat actor

that is well resourced and uses sophisticated techniques to evade detection. These actors lurk in networks to spy over the long term to steal sensitive information or disrupt essential services.

While Singapore did not disclose UNC3886’s sponsors, cyberexperts said the group is linked to China. Cybersecurity firm Mandiant first detected the espionage group in 2022.

In a statement on July 19 responding to media reports about UNC3886 being linked to Beijing, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Singapore

denied any association with the hacker group and condemned the attacks

.

2. AI adoption gains pace in Singapore

In 2025, Singapore built on its ambitions laid out in its national AI strategy released in 2024, and made larger strides in adopting the technology.

Over 50 companies –

including Microsoft, Alibaba Cloud and Google

– have established AI centres of excellence in Singapore. Local companies that have done so include Razer and Grab.

These centres are responsible for skills transfers to enable local companies to adopt AI confidently through experimentation in a controlled, live environment with relaxed or tailor-made regulatory requirements. 

For instance, the

Microsoft Research Asia Lab

will work with local partners to apply advanced AI technologies in logistics, manufacturing, finance and healthcare. Alibaba Cloud’s AI Global Competency Centre will offer businesses and developers access to advanced AI models and computing resources, while Google’s AI lab, set up with NUS, focuses on developing talent through professorships, training and hands-on research projects.

There is also a larger push for all Singaporeans to become adept at AI. For instance,

4,000 engineers and project managers from ST Engineering

will receive intermediate-level AI training so they can apply the technology in core work operations and customer solutions. Digital Development and Information Minister Josephine Teo likened these workers to

“bilingual AI talents”

.

3. Improving online safety

Singapore passed the new Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) Bill in late 2025, after more than eight hours of debate, where 23 MPs spoke intensely on issues ranging from remedies for victims who are minors, to the risk of intruding on users’ privacy and the risk of the new government agency’s power being an overreach.

The new legislation paves the way for the set-up of the OSC.

Separately, in March, IMDA rolled out the

Code of Practice for Online Safety for App Distribution Services,

requiring app stores to screen and prevent users aged 18 and below from downloading apps meant for adults. The code aims to reduce the risk of exposing young users to harmful content on apps.

App stores or portal operators including

Apple, Google, Huawei, Samsung and Microsoft

have till March 2026 to roll out measures that will stop young users from downloading apps such as dating apps or those with sexual content.

4. Telco consolidation

Keppel announced in August that it was

selling its subsidiary M1 to rival Simba Telecom

for $1.43 billion in the first telco consolidation here amid declining per-subscriber revenue and the popularity of low-cost mobile virtual network operators.

The deal is being reviewed by regulator IMDA. A day after news of the proposed Simba-M1 merger broke, StarHub completed

its takeover of the fixed broadband business of MyRepublic

.

Consumers have been used to competitive pricing and product offerings after years of market liberalisation, which included the entry of mobile virtual network operators in 2016.

Mobile virtual network operator Circles.Life warned that the proposed consolidation would be detrimental to competition as the merged Simba-M1 entity would control 77 per cent of the wholesale market.

Meanwhile, Simba Telecom and M1

promised to offer their popular $10 and $12 mobile plans

to new subscribers, and retain current prices for existing mobile subscribers, for at least two years after the proposed merger is completed.

5. Internet outages

There was no let-up in digital outages in 2025.

On Oct 20, Amazon Web Services

was hit by a 16-hour outage

, which affected hundreds of online services globally, including those of banks and airlines overseas, online game Fortnite, and popular apps such as Snapchat and Reddit. Users in Singapore also reported problems with games such as Roblox, Pokemon Go and Clash Of Clans.

Amazon is the world’s largest cloud provider, followed closely by other US giants, namely Microsoft’s Azure and Google’s Cloud platform.

The global disruption was the largest since July 2024’s CrowdStrike malfunction that crippled hospitals, airports and banks. Then, a faulty software update issued by CrowdStrike 

crashed about 8.5 million Windows devices worldwide

, including in Singapore.

Separately on Nov 18, internet users could not access many major websites due to

an outage at Cloudflare

, whose network handles about a fifth of web traffic.

Websites that went down included AI chatbot ChatGPT, social media site X, video game League Of Legends and also outage-tracking site Downdetector. In Singapore, some government websites and systems faced intermittent access issues, but essential government systems were unaffected and remained operational throughout.

To improve the resilience of foundational digital infrastructure, the Government intends to table the DIA to require major cloud service providers and data centre operators to put in place measures to strengthen foundational digital infrastructure.