American artificial intelligence research organisation OpenAI plans to open an office in Singapore by the end of 2024.
Announced at Tech Week Singapore, the team will focus on strengthening relationships with governments, businesses, and institutions across the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.
The aim is to support customers and partners in the region.
Oliver Jay has been appointed as managing director for International.
Based in Singapore, he will oversee the company’s international operations and global expansion.
OpenAI has announced a partnership with AI Singapore to provide up to SGD 1.3 million (USD 1 million) to help develop resources.
This includes open datasets, to ensure AI models are suited to Southeast Asia’s diverse languages and cultures.
AI Singapore’s senior director of AI products, Leslie Teo, said, the local presence of OpenAI will help enhance 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 the region, Teo added.
OpenAI will work with Singapore government partners, such as the Economic Development Board (EDB).
This will support Singapore’s local AI ecosystem and help shape an AI-powered future that benefits everyone.
It can work with companies including Grab in Singapore and Canva in Australia, which are using its advanced AI products to power new tools and features for customers.
The company will also host its first Developer Day in Singapore on 21 November 2024.
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.