Google DeepMind has announced the launch of a new Artificial Intelligence (AI) research laboratory in Singapore, its first dedicated research facility in Southeast Asia. The strategic move significantly strengthens Google’s presence in the Asia-Pacific region, underscoring Singapore’s growing global role as a hub for advanced technology and innovation, supported by its strong ecosystem of talent and policy. The new lab, which has already begun operations, will be located at Google’s Asia Pacific headquarters in Mapletree Business City.
The Singapore lab will focus primarily on fundamental AI research, specifically in advanced core areas such as reasoning, multimodal learning (understanding text, images, and audio), and efficiency. Critically, the lab has an explicit mandate to advance the linguistic and cultural inclusivity of Google’s AI models, working to improve the model’s capabilities in understanding the diverse languages and cultural nuances of Southeast Asia. This builds on existing collaboration with AI Singapore to develop SEA-LION, a family of Large Language Models (LLMs) tuned for the region’s context.The lab is focused on deep collaboration with local partners, including the Economic Development Board (EDB), GovTech, and academic institutions like the National Neuroscience Institute (NNI) and A*STAR, to translate research into real-world solutions for healthcare, education, and public sector services. By establishing a dedicated research base, Google DeepMind aims to harness the region’s exceptional talent pool and responsibly advance AI with a tangible, global impact.
 research laboratory in Singapore, its first dedicated research facility in Southeast Asia.){kind=link}