S'pore to establish National AI Council, to be chaired by PM Wong: Budget 2026

Singapore will establish a National AI Council to provide strategic direction and drive Singapore's artificial intelligence (AI) agenda.

In his Budget speech on Feb. 12, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said that how Singapore harnesses AI, among other new technologies, as a strategic advantage will be a decisive factor for success in a changed world.

Fears of job displacement run deep among workers, he said, but "we must act with clarity and resolve".

To ensure that AI is developed responsibly and safely to serve national interests, he announced that the government will launch a new set of National AI Missions, targeting the advanced manufacturing, connectivity, finance and healthcare sectors.

Leading the missions will be the National AI Council.

Who's in?

The Council will be chaired by PM Wong and comprise the following members:

• DPM Gan Kim Yong
• Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung
• Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo
• Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng
• Minister for National Development Chee Hong Tat
• Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow

Functions of the Council

The National AI Council will serve three purposes.

It will provide strategic direction for the National AI Strategy, including overseeing AI Missions, commission AI Missions in priority sectors with strong industry relevance and growth potential, and unlock regulations and resources to accelerate AI solutions.

AI adoption in enterprises

Among the Council's aims is to accelerate AI adoption by enterprises, PM Wong said.

He said that while many firms are already using AI, end-to-end-transformation is demanding, which has led to even major global companies grappling with it.

To mitigate this issue, the government will launch a new Champions of AI programme to support firms with the ambition to use AI comprehensively for business transformation.

Support will be tailored to each company, he said.

The Council will also build on the Enterprise Innovation Scheme, which currently provides businesses with a 400 per cent tax reduction on qualifying expenditures.

This scheme will be expanded to include AI expenditures as a qualifying activity for the Years of Assessment 2027 and 2028, capped at S$50,000 per Year of Assessment.

Existing support schemes, like the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG) will also be AI-enabled.

The PSG, for instance, will be expanded to support a wider range of digital and AI-enable solutions, so that firms can access tools more effectively.

The government has also started a pilot initiative called Lorong AI, a co-working space to convene the AI community.

This will be expanded upon into a larger AI park at One-North.

Empowering workers

PM Wong also promised that the government would stand with workers in the transition period into increasing AI usage.

This includes strengthening AI literacy for students in Institutes of Higher Learning (IHL), he said.

At the workplace, workers will be supported in building practical AI capabilities.

"Every Singaporean can take the initiative to learn and pick up AI-related skills," PM Wong said.

On that note, he added that the SkillsFuture website will be redesigned to make AI learning pathways clearer and easier to access, so that Singaporeans can quickly find courses that match their work needs and proficiency levels.

To further encourage learning, Singaporeans who take up selected AI training courses will also be provided with six months of free access to premium AI tools.

Top images via Canva & Mothership