OpenAI recently signed a multi-year cooperation agreement with the Singapore government, committing to invest more than S$300 million (approximately US$234 million) to establish its first Applied AI Lab outside the United States.
The laboratory will serve as the core carrier of cooperation between the two parties, focusing on three major directions: helping Singapore's public and private institutions deploy cutting-edge AI and solve problems; cultivating the next generation of local AI talents; and promoting AI technology to benefit ordinary people, various enterprises and the public sector.
OpenAI expects to create more than 200 technical jobs in Singapore in the next few years, covering technical experts and engineers, making Singapore one of its important hubs for forward-deployed engineers (Forward-Deployed Engineers) in the world.
Frontier Deployment Engineers are a unique technical role at OpenAI who sit at the intersection of cutting-edge research and real-world deployment, working directly with businesses and institutions to solve their hardest problems and unlock new sources of value. The laboratory will support Singapore’s AI applications in national priority areas such as public services, finance, healthcare and digital infrastructure.
In terms of talent, OpenAI plans to cooperate with the local Ministry of Education and the Government Science and Technology Bureau to develop AI-driven educational tools, such as AI applications that help students effectively learn local languages. The company will also open a Singapore version of OpenAI Academy and host a Codex for Teachers hackathon. Singapore is now one of the top Codex user markets in the world.
This cooperation comes at a time when Singapore is accelerating its efforts to build a global AI hub. The government also announced on the same day that it had reached AI cooperation agreements with Google and Nvidia. Google will expand its enterprise AI deployment in Singapore, while Nvidia will set up a new research lab there focusing on robotics and AI infrastructure.
Singapore’s Minister of Digital Development and Information Yang Liming said that leading companies like Nvidia choose to deepen their presence here because Singapore adds valuable value to their global footprint.
Denise Dresser, Chief Revenue Officer of OpenAI, said that Singapore has strong technical talent, credible institutions and clear ambitions to use AI to drive long-term growth. Through this cooperation, OpenAI hopes to help more institutions benefit from cutting-edge AI, support the next generation of local AI talents, and expand the accessibility of AI tools across the country.