OpenAI establishes presence in Singapore to support international expansion

09 Oct 2024 3 min read

Photo credit: OpenAI

This press release was issued by OpenAI.

Today at Tech Week Singapore, OpenAI announced that it has established a presence in Singapore and confirms plans to open an office later this year.

These plans reflect Singapore’s leadership position in technology and artificial intelligence (AI), as well as the growing demand for advanced AI tools across the Asia Pacific region (APAC). Singaporeans are some of the highest per capita users of ChatGPT worldwide, with the number of weekly active users in Singapore doubling since the beginning of the year.

To support that, OpenAI has started building a team in Singapore—a hub from which it will support customers and partners throughout the region—to strengthen relationships with local and regional governments, businesses, and institutions across APAC.

“Singapore, with its rich history of technology leadership, has emerged as a leader in artificial intelligence, recognizing its potential to solve some of society's hardest problems and advance economic prosperity. We're excited to partner with the government and the country's thriving AI ecosystem as we expand into the APAC region. ”

Sam Altman

CEO

OpenAI

Through this new local presence, OpenAI will be able to work more closely with Singapore government partners, such as the Economic Development Board (EDB), to support Singapore’s local AI ecosystem and help shape an AI-powered future that benefits everyone.

“OpenAI’s decision to establish a presence in Singapore, their hub in APAC, underscores the strength of our growing AI ecosystem, fueled by the government’s investments in AI talent, AI compute and AI demand by enterprises. As part of Singapore’s National AI Strategy 2.0, Digital Industry Singapore (EDB, ESG and IMDA) fosters collaboration between AI innovators and Singapore-based enterprises so that they can harness innovation for productivity and growth. We look forward to the multiplier effects of this move, sparking new collaborations and bringing more leading edge AI companies to our region.”

Jacqueline Poh

Managing Director

EDB

As a first step in that commitment, OpenAI today announced a partnership with AI Singapore to make advanced AI more widely accessible across Southeast Asia. Through the partnership, OpenAI will provide up to USD $1 million to help develop resources, including open datasets, to ensure AI models are better suited to Southeast Asia’s diverse languages and cultures.

“We welcome OpenAI's participation in our shared vision in enhancing Southeast Asian representation in the global landscape of large language models. This effort will improve the availability and quality of Southeast Asian data, and encourage further development and adoption of AI models and solutions in our region.”

Dr Leslie Teo

Senior Director of AI Products

AI Singapore

Looking ahead, on 21 November 2024, OpenAI will also host its first Developer Day in Singapore, bringing together the region’s flourishing community of developers and startups who are building the future of AI.

Establishing a regional presence brings OpenAI closer to innovative local companies, such as Grab in Singapore and Canva in Australia, which are using OpenAI’s advanced AI products to power new tools and features for their customers.

To spearhead these efforts in Singapore and across the region, OpenAI welcomes Oliver Jay as Managing Director for International. Based in Singapore, he will oversee OpenAI’s international operations and global expansion.

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