Singapore To Triple AI Pool, Build Iconic AI Site

Over the next three to five years, Singapore aims to more than triple the number of artificial intelligence (AI) practitioners here to 15,000, and establish an “iconic” site to nurture the country’s AI community. These form part of Singapore’s updated National AI Strategy (NAIS) 2.0, launched by the government on Monday (Dec 4).

To grow the talent pool, the AI Apprenticeship Programme, from which 300 Singaporeans have graduated as of September 2023, will be redesigned and scaled up. The government will also work with industry AI product development teams to expand company attachments.

Nvidia CEO hints at new supercomputer in Singapore; meeting PM Lee, EDB to discuss AI plans

NVIDIA chief executive officer Jensen Huang has hinted at a new supercomputer to be built in Singapore, and will be meeting Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Jacqueline Poh, managing director of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), to discuss potential “large investments” in artificial intelligence (AI) here.

“We have a supercomputer here already (and) we intend to build an even-larger one,” Huang told reporters at a media roundtable in Singapore on Wednesday (Dec 6).

The Singapore market is a notable driver of US-listed Nvidia’s revenue, with a Securities and Exchange Commission filing showing that the city-state accounted for up to about 15 per cent, or US$2.7 billion, of its total revenue of US$18.1 billion for the quarter ended October.

Nvidia has two major categories of customers in Singapore, noted Huang. One is made up of cloud service providers, who are “becoming increasingly successful because of the vibrant startup ecosystem” driving up the demand for graphics processing units here. The second is companies here who deploy outside Singapore.