Singapore's $150M AI Fund to Boost Automation across Key Industries

Analysts stated that a $150 million state fund aimed at accelerating artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in Singaporean companies is set to generate additional automation tools for finance, healthcare, supply chains, and energy management.

The enterprise compute initiative highlighted in the 2025 budget may also drive AI tools for enhancing customer experience and advancing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts, Lyon Poh, a partner and head of corporate transformation at KPMG International Ltd. in Singapore, informed Singapore Business Review.

“We could see AI-driven micro-personalisation for customer engagement in retail, hyperlocal demand forecasting for food businesses and AI-optimised energy management for small businesses,” he said in an emailed reply to questions.

Gerard Seng, the executive director for digital advisory at BDO Singapore, anticipates that the government's AI initiative will positively influence the hardware advancements required for implementing AI solutions, especially AI chips.

“Hyperscale infrastructure providers are already anticipating increased demand and preparing to meet it,” he added.

Manik Bhandari, EY Asean Data and Artificial Intelligence Leader, provided an alternative viewpoint, stating that although the initiative could increase the demand for AI chips, the overall effect will not be substantial.

In the meantime, Poh anticipates a rise in demand for particular AI tools from certain sectors. For instance, sectors such as healthcare, logistics, and manufacturing could implement computer vision and image recognition technologies.

“AI can enhance fraud detection, risk management, and personalised finance; improve diagnostics, treatment, and automation in healthcare; and optimize supply chains, route planning, and inventory in logistics,” Poh said.