Lorong AI: Collaborative hub sets blueprint for Singapore’s future AI park in one-north

SINGAPORE – In the past year, Ms Mabel Loh has attended more than 30 classes on artificial intelligence (AI), driven by the intention of building an AI companion app that can help women achieve their wellness goals.

Despite lacking a technical background, the fitness coach-turned-start-up-founder has gradually equipped herself with knowledge such as understanding the limitations of large-language models and the value of synthetic data.

The 32-year-old is one of more than 4,000 attendees who have come through the doors of Lorong AI – a space dubbed an “iconic” AI hub by Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo.

During the Budget speech on Feb 12, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said

a new AI park will be established at one-north,

which will build on the Lorong AI initiative.

The park will bring together AI founders, practitioners, researchers and innovators to collaborate and translate initiatives into practical solutions.

Set up in January 2025, Lorong AI serves as a hub for practitioners across industry, research and the Government to network and exchange ideas. Daily operations are overseen by a group of four Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) officers.

The activities organised vary in difficulty, depending on the day. For instance, Fri-DIYs offer attendees a hands-on opportunity to explore AI tools, while ThursTalks foster open discussions on technical topics.

AI Wednesdays tend to draw the largest participant numbers. These are classes helmed by scientists, engineers and researchers on everything from how to implement safety guard rails in AI models to the use of AI to create more interactive gaming experiences.

The event space can hold up to 50 people, but talks by heavyweights from companies such as OpenAI and Manus have exceeded capacity, often drawing more than 100 attendees.

When planning Lorong AI’s operations, MDDI officers drew on insights and observations from their visits to established AI hubs such as Cerebral Valley in San Francisco and Area 2071 in Dubai.

“In the AI space, thousands of research papers are published every week,” Lorong AI’s director-in-charge Edmund Zhou told The Straits Times in an interview.

“In order to know what is truly useful, people want to know what the ‘word on the street is’, and have a quick exchange of ideas.”

Lorong AI occupies the third floor of the WeWork office in Chinatown, where members can also network and work alongside others when events are not taking place.

Within this set-up is a 35-seater office for AI practitioners from various government agencies to work in. It serves as a dedicated space where they can brainstorm, refine ideas and work on ongoing projects together.

“Three in five who come here are practitioners such as data scientists, researchers and AI engineers, but we also do get the ‘AI-curious’ who want to learn,” said Mr Zhou, who is also director of infrastructure development at MDDI’s digital economy office.

One such attendee was an elderly woman, who with shopping trolley in hand, attended two to three talks in a row.

Others come seeking to understand the buzz around AI and explore potential learning opportunities, he said.

“If beginners were to come and end up in a space they feel confused, we will try to match them with others in the community who can support their growth.”

There are more than 250 paying members – membership is tied to a WeWork co-working pass – though some events are free and open to members of the public.

While most classes currently focus on highly technical topics, the team is working to broaden the scope by adding more beginner-friendly sessions on AI.

Even though Lorong AI welcomes companies that want to share their insights with the community, the team maintains clear boundaries to prevent businesses from using the platform to promote their products.

Said Mr Zhou: “If they tell us that their speaker is the head of marketing, we remind them that our participants will likely ask more technical questions, so they must be prepared to engage accordingly.”

As for Ms Loh, she began attending classes at Lorong AI with the goal of developing a virtual AI “oppa” – a Korean term females use to address an older male – that can help women achieve their wellness goals.

Powered by generative AI models, this virtual companion would be able to give personalised responses to users, allowing them to unlock a storyline as they consistently complete self-set goals, like completing a workout or preparing a healthy meal.

“In building a companion for women, my aim is to ensure it can understand and respond to a wide variety of users – from a grandmother who has never joined a gym before to someone experiencing the stress of caring for her ageing parents,” said Ms Loh. 

However, when the prototype was being tested on messaging app Telegram, users seeking advice from “oppa” for dealing with a difficult boss at work were left puzzled when the virtual assistant began offering strategies for winning high-level battles in a video game. This is often referred to as “boss fights” by gamers.

Ms Loh said a talk she attended in January led by a scientist from Nvidia enlightened her on how datasets used in AI models can be heavily biased in their representation of humans.

Through the class, she discovered a potential solution – a new range of synthetic datasets created by Nvidia that is designed to reflect Singapore’s population demographics.

“I might not use it now, but at least it’s good to build a bank of resources at the back of my mind that I can tap on later,” she said.

Unlike traditional upskilling courses that demand strict attendance, Lorong AI’s modular system allows for a more flexible way of learning, added Ms Loh.

Several start-ups such as Singapore AI Safety Hub and Featherless.ai also share the same location as Lorong AI, which allows them to easily network and tap the wealth of expertise concentrated in the space.

Featherless.ai, which hosts over 20,000 AI models that app creators can purchase access to, set up its local office in December 2025, said business lead Ron Tay.

“We are trying to move towards marketing to businesses as well, and being here allows us to learn about what the industry at large needs,” he said.

After nearly a year since Lorong AI opened its doors in Chinatown, it will soon be expanding its presence to one-north.

In a Facebook post on Feb 13, Mrs Teo said the hub’s second site will be launched at Block 69 Ayer Rajah Crescent on Feb 23.

“Ultimately, we want people to think about Lorong AI when they think about AI in Singapore,” said Mr Zhou.

“This is the place to come and speak with like-minded individuals, and the place to be if you have a problem to solve.”