Singapore – Google DeepMind is expanding its operations in Singapore with the creation of a new research facility intended to support wider adoption and development of AI across the APAC region.
The move aligns with Singapore’s national goals to advance digital capability through initiatives such as the National AI Strategy 2.0 and Smart Nation 2.0, as well as its openness to international expertise.
The research facility extends Google’s long-standing engagement in the region and follows significant growth in Google DeepMind’s APAC workforce over the past year.
A new team in Singapore will include researchers, engineers and specialists working on areas central to AI development, particularly those relevant to regional requirements. Their focus will include improving the capabilities of Gemini, strengthening research around linguistic and cultural diversity, and supporting the integration of advanced models across Google’s consumer and cloud services.
Lila Ibrahim, chief operating officer of Google DeepMind, mentioned that Singapore’s forward-looking approach to AI innovations makes it an ideal location for the AI research lab.
“We are here to harness the region’s exceptional talent, drive purposeful research, and build the essential partnerships to advance AI responsibly and deliver tangible, global impact,” Lila commented.
Collaboration will be a key element of the new lab’s role, with Google DeepMind planning to work alongside government bodies, industry partners, non-profit organisations and academic institutions throughout the region.
Sanjay Gupta, president of Google Asia Pacific, added that the company has been part of the Singapore story for over two decades and is considered Google’s home for the APAC region.
“The new Google DeepMind research lab in Singapore is a strong signal of the importance of this region and will help to ensure Asia Pacific is not just consuming AI, but is an architect and developer of this transformative technology,” Sanjay stated.
Several ongoing initiatives in Singapore already demonstrate how Google technologies are being adopted.
Government entities, including GovTech, the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore and the Infocomm Media Development Authority, have introduced an AI agent sandbox with Google to test autonomous tools for the public sector.
Work with AI Singapore has also produced Project Aquarium, an open data platform supporting languages across Southeast Asia, and contributed to the development of SEA-LION, a set of regional language models that includes a multimodal version built on Gemma 3.
“A Google DeepMind presence in Southeast Asia is a broader recognition of the region’s AI vibrancy, and the need for systems that account for cultural and linguistic contexts we operate in,” Dr Leslie Teo, senior director of AI products at AI Singapore, commented.
“We are excited to leverage the team’s expertise to accelerate our work to build LLMs that are more representative of the region’s context and perspectives.”
In education, students in Singapore have been given one year of complimentary access to the Google AI Pro Plan to enhance creative and learning tasks. Google has also introduced Gemini Academy to support broader digital literacy efforts through the Singapore Digital Office.
Local startups are being supported through the Google for Startups: AI First accelerator, aimed at helping early-stage companies apply generative AI to economic, social and environmental challenges.
The establishment of the new lab marks the next phase of Google DeepMind’s work in Singapore, with the organisation aiming to support responsible AI development and ensure that the region can play an active role in shaping emerging technologies.
