Google doubles down on Singapore with sweeping AI expansion and national push

Google is doubling down on Singapore, unveiling an expanded AI research and development footprint alongside a slate of national initiatives spanning healthcare, enterprise innovation, talent development and online safety.

The initiatives were revealed at the second 'Google for Singapore' event on 10 February, in the presence of Josephine Teo, minister for digital development and information. They are positioned as part of Google’s support for Singapore’s national AI strategy.

Singapore has served as Google’s Asia Pacific headquarters since 2007, with nearly 3,000 employees today. The company has invested US$5 billion in technical infrastructure across four data centres and cloud regions, and established a Google DeepMind research lab in Singapore to advance AI in APAC.

Don't miss: Singapore nets SG$23B in 2025 investments as AI and startups steal the spotlight

Google said it will scale specialised teams across software engineering, UX design and research science in Singapore, with a strategic focus on expanding its cloud engineering footprint.

The move is aimed at strengthening Singapore’s position as a global R&D hub, building local research capabilities while partnering global Google teams to develop and export new technologies across its platforms and products. The investment complements Singapore’s Research, Innovation and Enterprise Plan 2030, which seeks to deepen research capabilities and drive impactful innovation.

In healthcare, Google is expanding its partnership with AI Singapore (AISG) to support the development of Singapore’s national AI infrastructure for health.

Through access to MedGemma, Google’s open model for medical understanding, the initiative will focus on fine-tuning a foundational health AI model to reflect Singapore’s healthcare context. The goal is to enable the development of AI-assisted applications tailored to local needs.

Google is also collaborating with local health-tech startup AMILI on a precision nutrition programme. The initiative combines AMILI’s gut microbiome data with Google’s cloud and AI technologies, including Gemini, to deliver personalised nutrition and lifestyle recommendations.

Separately, Google’s philanthropic arm has provided US$1 million to AISG’s Project Aquarium, an open data platform for Southeast Asian languages. The funding will support the development of higher-quality, open-source datasets to help developers build more culturally relevant AI solutions for the region.

On the enterprise front, Google unveiled the Google Cloud Singapore Engineering Center. The hub will house software engineers and frontline support teams who will partner companies to address global challenges, including in robotics and clean energy.

For startups, Google will launch "Startup school: Prompt to prototype" in Southeast Asia. The online training programme is designed to help founders use tools such as Gemini and AI Studio to turn ideas into AI prototypes, even without deep coding expertise.

To build local talent, Google is launching “Majulah AI”, which brings together initiatives targeting jobseekers, entrepreneurs, developers and the broader population. This includes Skills Ignition SG with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), Google for Startups Accelerator: AI First, AI Cloud Takeoff and Gemini Academy.

Under a new partnership with the Ministry of Education (MOE), Google will roll out “Google AI living labs”, starting with ITE College East and expanding to Nanyang Polytechnic and other institutions. The programme aims to reach 50,000 Singaporeans by 2027 through hands-on workshops and industry collaborations.

Google is also working with IMDA on the "Skills ignition SG AI challenge", a three-month accelerator targeting 500 graduates and mid-career professionals. The programme will focus on integrating AI into non-technical roles such as accountancy, human resources, legal and sales and marketing.

To enhance digital safety, Google is launching an AI Center of Excellence for security in Singapore. The hub will conduct research into emerging threats, including risks in areas such as agentic AI, while advancing security, privacy and content safety.

The company has also begun rolling out age assurance solutions in Singapore. The feature is designed to provide users estimated to be under 18 with safer, age-appropriate experiences, including SafeSearch by default and enhanced content restrictions on YouTube and Google Play.

These initiatives build on existing partnerships with government agencies, including enhanced fraud protection on Google Play Protect in collaboration with the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA). Since implementation, the protection has blocked over 2.9 million high-risk app installation attempts across more than 670,000 devices in Singapore over the past two years.

Google has also partnered IMDA and the Media Literacy Council on the "Be Internet awesome" programme, which has trained 210,000 parents and children on online safety and media literacy since 2022.

“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," said Ben King, managing director, Google Singapore. 

He added, "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."

Jermaine Loy, managing director of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), said Google’s expanded AI and R&D activities will help anchor advanced capabilities in Singapore and reinforce its standing as a global innovation hub. He added that the investment is expected to create quality jobs for Singaporeans in frontier technology fields, while supporting efforts to build a competitive and inclusive AI economy through continued collaboration between Singapore and Google.

The move adds to Google’s broader AI build-out in Singapore. In November, Google DeepMind unveiled a new AI research lab in the country as part of its expanding Asia Pacific footprint, aligned with the government’s National AI Strategy 2.0 and Smart Nation 2.0 plans.

Launched after the company more than doubled its APAC team over the past year, the lab brings together research scientists, software engineers and AI specialists to advance core Gemini capabilities and deploy models across Google’s products and Cloud offerings, with a focus on linguistic and cultural inclusivity, while serving as a regional collaboration hub for government, industry and academia.

Showcase your most innovative content and gain recognition from a panel of industry leaders by entering the inaugural Content360 Awards. Submit your work today and be part of the celebration that honours the campaigns defining the future of content marketing.

Related articles: 
Google strengthens SEA leadership to accelerate AI-driven growth   
SG60, crises and eats: What were Singaporeans searching on Google this year?   
Google to roll out age assurance tech in SG to safeguard young users online