From food to finance: AI facilities that have set up shop in Singapore

SINGAPORE - More than 60 centres of excellence dedicated to promoting the use of artificial intelligence (AI) across various sectors have been set up here.

On Jan 24, Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo announced a

$1 billion national plan

to boost similar AI research capabilities in public research institutions, as Singapore doubles down on its AI ambitions.

The five-year plan, slated to last until 2030, will see the establishment of research centres of excellence (RCEs) that will host teams of researchers who study core AI models and technologies for various applications.

These RCEs will complement the current network of more than 60 AI Centres of Excellence, which were launched by technology firms in conjunction with the Government to help drive AI adoption in enterprises. But there will be fewer RCEs, and each centre is backed by larger investments.

Here is a look back at some of the key centres of excellence and research labs that companies within various sectors, such as finance, transport and agriculture, have set up to drive AI adoption.

1. UBS

Singapore is home to the Swiss bank’s

largest and first AI and transformation factory

, with more than 150 employees consisting of programmers, data scientists and product managers.

During a media tour in October, the team demonstrated products developed in-house such as an AI-powered tool that helps to reduce the amount of time employees spend on doing background checks on its wealth management clients.

The process traditionally takes two weeks, and such a tool helps to dramatically reduce the time spend on a tedious process.

More than half of the employees in this department come from a non-tech background, including Ms Ruth Hong, who led the design of the Know-Your-Client tool after working in the bank’s operations team.

Having employees who understand the pain points in business processes, and not just AI specialists such as data scientists and machine learning, is also crucial to how the sector can strengthen its competitiveness, said Mrs Teo during the tour.

2. Razer

The home-grown gaming firm

established an AI centre of excellence

at its South-east Asian headquarters back in August, while simultaneously announcing its plans to hire 150 engineers, data scientists and game developers to help the company embrace AI in its core operations.

The centre will create tools to engage gamers and help developers automate with AI, tasks that these 150 hires are expected to be familiar with.

Among the tools featured at the centre is the Razer QA Companion, which provides quality assurance testing and bug detection to help developers lower production costs and halve the time needed to commercialise games.

The tool was in beta testing with over 50 major game studios and independent studios, though Razer declined to name any due to confidentiality reasons.

The firm also plans to work with AI Singapore and institutes of higher learning to provide practical training in AI and machine learning via internships and work attachments.

3. Japfa

Under a new AI and quantum computing centre of excellence launched in October, the agriculture and food company aims to address challenges in livestock farming and food production by working with tertiary institutions and start-ups.

The firm has signed several agreements, including a collaboration with the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) in using computer vision to support food processing quality inspections.

It will also be working to develop AI prototype solutions with Nanyang Polytechnic, and provide training programmes to cultivate digital talent.

These partnerships will build on the firm’s growing use of AI in the region, which includes test pilots in Indonesia and Vietnam that use AI to monitor farm operations in real time, said Japfa in a media release.

4. Grab

The ride-hailing operator launched its

AI centre of excellence within its one-north headquarters

in May and announced plans to hire at least 50 product, engineering, data science and analytics professionals by the end of 2025.

During the launch, Grab introduced a slate of AI-powered tools that it has been working to integrate into its app, including a voice assistant feature that would allow visually impaired users to book rides using voice commands.

The tool uses OpenAI’s large language model and is fine-tuned with voice samples provided by local employees so it can understand Singaporean accents and pronunciations.

Another tool involves the collection of data from onboard dashcams that can capture the presence of flooding, heavy rain, and traffic conditions, so that drivers can receive accurate flood alerts. This would, in turn, minimise traffic disruption during heavy rain.

5. Google DeepMind

Through a new AI research lab, the US tech giant will

further existing efforts in improving its AI model’s capabilities

in understanding regional languages and cultural nuances.

This includes a collaboration with AI Singapore on Project Aquarium, a platform that sources for data on South-east Asian languages. This aids in the development of Singapore’s home-grown AI model Sea-Lion, which recognises 13 regional languages, including Malay, Tamil, Thai and Vietnamese.

Working on the model’s understanding of linguistic capabilities also extends past text and speech, to include culturally relevant visual cues.

Google’s primary AI research team will also be partnering with local agencies and academic institutions to improve AI model Gemini’s reasoning capabilities and create solutions to tackle global issues such as energy, healthcare, and climate.

6. Microsoft Research Asia

Microsoft’s

first research lab in South-east Asia

was launched in July, which will focus on projects such as creating an AI model that can help local manufacturers manage the increased costs linked to supply chain disruptions.

Staffed by a team of newly hired researchers located at the company’s office in Cecil Street, Microsoft Research president Peter Lee said Singapore is a good place to develop and test such a model due to the country’s level of sophistication within the manufacturing sector, along with its port city status.

The firm will also be seeking out local collaborators to apply advanced AI technologies in other key domains such as finance and healthcare.

For instance, it hopes to create an AI model that can take in news insights and earning reports of companies to more accurately make predictions about the direction that markets will be moving in.

7. SIT x Nvidia AI Centre

Since its opening in 2024, the centre established by SIT and chipmaking giant Nvidia has worked with 70 companies to develop 50 AI solutions in manufacturing, healthcare, and transport sectors.

To complement its applied AI research, the centre launched a new training initiative in October, which aims to

train more than 200 fresh graduates and mid-career professionals

over the next three years to become AI practitioners.

Participants would undergo training to be equipped with skills to use AI tools, libraries and algorithms to develop AI applications. They would also work on projects with industry partners to solve real-world business problems with AI, supervised by instructors and experts from the centre and SIT.