Google boosts AI research, skills & safety in Singapore

Google is expanding its artificial intelligence investment in Singapore, planning to grow its local research and development footprint and roll out new programmes spanning healthcare, cloud engineering, workforce skills and online safety.

The expansion covers four areas: "Solving for Society's Challenges", "Driving innovation for growth", "Building a future-ready workforce" and "Creating a secure ecosystem". Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo attended the event where Google outlined the initiatives.

Singapore has been Google's Asia-Pacific headquarters since 2007. Google now employs nearly 3,000 people in the city-state and has invested US$5 billion in technical infrastructure across four data centres and cloud regions. Its existing research presence includes a Google DeepMind Research Lab.

Google will scale specialist teams in software engineering, user experience design and research science, and expand its cloud engineering footprint in Singapore.

"Our mission in Singapore has always been about empowering Singaporeans today for tomorrow. The AI era makes that mission more critical than ever. That's why we are growing our engineering and R&D teams in the country - not just to bring Google's technology here, but to build solutions alongside Singapore that solve its unique challenges and drive new growth. More importantly, we also continue to invest in the skills and training programs every person and business needs to thrive, ensuring this nation continues to lead on the global stage," said Ben King, managing director, Google Singapore.

Jermaine Loy, managing director at the Economic Development Board (EDB), said the expansion would support jobs and strengthen Singapore's position in the global economy.

"Google's expansion of its AI and R&D activities in Singapore will anchor cutting-edge capabilities here, strengthening Singapore's position as a global hub for innovation. This investment creates exciting jobs for Singaporeans to participate at the forefront of cutting-edge technology development which will address critical global issues. Singapore looks forward to deepening our partnership with Google as we build a globally competitive and inclusive AI economy," said Loy.

Health focus

In healthcare, Google is extending work with AI Singapore on national AI infrastructure for health. The project includes access to MedGemma, an open model for medical understanding. The partners also plan a foundational health model that reflects Singapore's healthcare context.

Google is working with local health tech start-up AMILI on a precision nutrition programme that uses gut microbiome data to provide personalised lifestyle and nutrition guidance. Google will combine AMILI's data and nutrition expertise with its cloud and AI products, including Gemini.

Separately, Google.org is providing US$1 million to AI Singapore for Project Aquarium, an open data platform for Southeast Asian languages. The funding will support efforts to improve dataset quality and availability and make them open source.

Cloud engineering

On the enterprise side, Google is launching a Google Cloud Singapore Engineering Centre. The site will host a multidisciplinary team and work directly with organisations headquartered in Singapore on technology development and support.

Google also outlined a new training programme for founders, Startup School: Prompt to Prototype. The online programme, its first in Southeast Asia under that banner, will cover using Gemini and AI Studio to build prototypes.

Google Cloud executive Moe Abdula said co-locating engineering and research teams would speed the path from research to products.

"By co-locating our world-class team of software engineers alongside the recently launched Google DeepMind Research Lab in Singapore, we transform research into ready-to-deploy products at rapid speed. This integration empowers enterprises to move fast, delivering the precision and inclusivity the Asia-Pacific market demands. This Centre is the engine that propels local and regional businesses onto the global stage. We are more than a development center; we are a global launchpad, scaling regional ambitions from Singapore to the world," said Abdula.

Skills programmes

For workforce development, Google is launching "Majulah AI" as an umbrella for multiple training and support initiatives. The programmes will target jobseekers, entrepreneurs and developers, including training for seniors.

One new element is Google AI Living Labs, established with the Ministry of Education. The labs will provide physical spaces for students and educators to work with AI tools through workshops and collaborations. The first lab has been set up at ITE College East, with plans to expand to Nanyang Polytechnic and other institutions. Google aims to reach 50,000 Singaporeans by 2027.

Google is also partnering with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) on the Skills Ignition SG AI Challenge, a three-month accelerator. It will involve 500 graduates and mid-career professionals and focus on applying AI in non-technical business roles, including accountancy, human resources, legal, and sales and marketing.

"The Skills Ignition SG AI Challenge represents our commitment to ensuring Singaporeans can thrive in an AI-driven economy. By partnering with Google to bring AI fluency to professionals across diverse sectors-from accountancy to human resources-we are building a future-ready workforce that can harness its potential to drive innovation and productivity," said Kiren Kumar, deputy chief executive, IMDA.

Online safety

Google also announced new security and safety measures in Singapore, including an AI Centre of Excellence focused on research into emerging threats. The work will include risks linked to agentic AI, as well as security, privacy and content safety on mobile.

Google has begun rolling out age-assurance solutions for Singapore users. The feature estimates whether a user is under 18 and triggers age-appropriate settings, including SafeSearch by default and enhanced restrictions on YouTube and Google Play.

Google also pointed to enhanced fraud protection on Google Play Protect, developed with the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore. The protections blocked more than 2.9 million high-risk app installation attempts across more than 670,000 devices in Singapore over the past two years.

It also cited the Be Internet Awesome programme with IMDA and the Media Litreacy Council, which has trained 210,000 parents and children on privacy and misinformation since 2022.

"Since 2020, our programmes have helped up-skill nearly 350,000 Singaporeans. 'Majulah AI' is the next step on that journey to ensure that we are reaching every single segment of the Singaporean population. By working with the government, schools, and businesses, we're embedding AI training everywhere-from the classroom to the workplace-to empower every Singaporean with the skills they need to stay job-ready and create new opportunities with AI," added King.