Singapore to Invest US$50M to Develop AI Talent and Attract Researchers

The Singapore government will invest an additional US$50 million to develop local artificial intelligence (AI) talent and double the number of AI apprenticeships in the next five years.

The announcement was made by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced in his opening speech at the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SWITCH) 2022.

DPM Heng, who also chairs the National Research Foundation (NRF), said that the NRF will also create a new fellowship for AI to attract top researchers to pursue research in Singapore.

Singapore has invested more than US$450 million in AI R&D over the last five years. This includes a programme to enlarge the pool of AI engineers which has so far trained over 200 apprentices.

The country is home to 29 unicorns, including four minted in 2022. The government announced earlier this month that it will invest S$400 million in a financial sector talent development programme.

Heng Swee Keat

“For many innovative firms and start-ups, talent is probably in greater scarcity than funding. While we could more easily go to market for capital, talent is not something that is instantaneously available.

In fact, talent is not fungible like capital, as the skills needed are very specific – from coders to UI experts, to deep tech expertise such as AI, cyber and automation,”

said Heng Swee Keat, Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore.