Singapore Forms National AI Council
Singapore has established a new inter-ministerial National AI Council, which will be chaired by Prime Minister Wong. The council is tasked with driving national "AI missions" across four key sectors: advanced manufacturing, finance, healthcare, and connectivity. This centralized, mission-oriented approach aims to accelerate practical AI deployment and guide standards adoption across critical industries.
- This initiative is an evolution of Singapore's National AI Strategy 2.0, which was launched in late 2023 with the goal of harnessing AI for the public good. The new council and missions signal a shift from strategy to execution, focusing on deploying AI deliberately where productivity gains and exportable capabilities are most promising. - The council is an inter-ministerial body that includes the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister for Health, the Minister for Digital Development and Information, the Minister for Manpower, and the Minister for National Development. Its mandate includes providing strategic direction, commissioning missions in priority sectors, and unlocking regulations and resources to accelerate AI solution deployment. - To encourage enterprise adoption, the government is launching a "Champions of AI" program to support firms aiming for comprehensive business transformation through AI. Additionally, the Enterprise Innovation Scheme is being expanded to allow for a 400% tax deduction on qualifying AI expenditures, capped at S$50,000 per year for the assessment years of 2027 and 2028. - The mission for advanced manufacturing aims to build best-in-class factories, while the connectivity mission will focus on automating airport and seaport operations to enhance Singapore's position as a global logistics hub. Details on the manufacturing mission are expected from the Ministry of Trade and Industry during its 2026 budget debate. - This national strategy is supported by an established governance foundation, including the Model AI Governance Framework, first launched in 2019, and AI Verify, an AI governance testing framework and software toolkit developed by Singapore's Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA). - To foster innovation and collaboration, Singapore will develop a larger AI park at the one-north technology campus, building upon a pilot co-working space for the AI community called Lorong AI. - Singapore has been actively working to establish itself as a trusted AI hub, developing governance principles that align with international standards from the EU, US, and OECD. The government has also launched the AI Verify Foundation to foster a global open-source community for developing AI testing tools. - The government has committed over S$500 million to AI Singapore (AISG) under the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2020 and 2025 plans to advance AI research and development.
