S'pore investing over S$1 billion in national AI research plan from 2025 to 2030

The Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) said on Jan. 24 that Singapore is investing more than S$1 billion in its National AI Research and Development Plan (NAIRD) to strengthen public artificial intelligence research capabilities over five years from 2025 to 2030.

This was announced by Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo at the Singapore AI Research Week 2026 gala dinner, reported CNA.

The plan builds on Singapore's broader AI ambitions under the updated National AI Strategy (NAIS) 2.0, launched by PM Lawrence Wong in December 2023.

This is the second tranche of government funding for public research and development in AI, on top of the first investment of over S$500 million from 2019 to 2023 under Research Innovation Enterprise (RIE) 2020 and 2025, according to ST.

Key research areas

The funding will focus on three key areas, mainly fundamental AI, applied AI research, and talent development.

While there have been breakthroughs, Teo said that there are fundamental limitations in AI development, such as its intensive use of resources.

Singapore already has one of the region's densest concentrations of data centre capacity, she added, and its usage of energy and water "cannot be ignored".

Under NAIRD, Singapore plans to create AI research centres of excellence, housing local and international researchers, focusing on "long-term, difficult questions". Research into resource-efficient AI can complement Singapore's green data centre road map, Teo said.

Other research priorities include responsible AI, looking into safeguards against AI risks and protecting AI systems from being exploited.

Talent pipeline to start from young

The funding also supports initiatives to develop interest in AI research among youths in Singapore, such as the National Olympiad in AI that prepares pre-university students to participate at the international level, CNA reported.

Other measures include providing students with exposure to top AI research institutions locally and globally, and scaling up national programmes such as the AI Singapore PhD Fellowship Programme and the AI Accelerated Masters Programme.

The AI research centres of excellence will also be important platforms for talent development, added Teo.

Singapore ranked third in AI research globally

In 2025, Singapore ranked third in AI research in The Observer's Global AI Index, behind the United States and China.

An increasing number of companies have also opened corporate research labs in Singapore, including Microsoft Research Asia and Google DeepMind.

Top image via Lianhe Zaobao