Google DeepMind has opened a new research lab in Singapore to help strengthen Asia Pacific’s role as a creator of artificial intelligence (AI) rather than merely a consumer of it.
The new facility, which has begun hiring, will bring together research scientists, software engineers and AI impact specialists focused on building technologies tailored to the region. The move comes after Google DeepMind more than doubled its regional headcount over the past year.
"Singapore's forward-looking approach and unique position make it the ideal place for our new Google DeepMind 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," says Lila Ibrahim, chief operating officer of Google DeepMind, at a media briefing today.
The investment highlights intensifying competition among technology giants to set up AI research bases across Asia. Singapore has positioned itself as a regional centre for the technology through its National AI Strategy 2.0 and Smart Nation 2.0 programmes.
At the same media briefing, Chan Ih Ming, executive vice president of Singapore's Economic Development Board, says the city-state's role as a bridge-builder positions it to translate research into real-world outcomes.
"Given our role as a global city — we're open, we're highly diverse, our business is in bridge-building — there's opportunity for everything from a flow of talent to working on the critical problems of our time, such as climate, energy, and healthcare. Singapore, as an R&D and innovation ecosystem, has traction with companies like Google DeepMind, Microsoft and others in the upstream research space. The opportunity now is to pull through into application. The broader ecosystem is super excited to show what's possible here. It will take a village, and we're very glad to play a role,” he says.
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Building for the region’s context
According to Ibrahim, the Singapore site is Google DeepMind’s first research lab built entirely from the ground up, unlike its teams in India and Japan that were inherited through the 2023 merger of DeepMind and Google Brain.
The Singapore research lab will advance the Gemini AI model with a focus on linguistic and cultural inclusivity for Asia Pacific, while working with government agencies, companies and academic partners. That includes ongoing collaboration with AI Singapore, which partnered with Google DeepMind on SEA-LION — a family of large language models (LLMs) trained to reflect the region’s cultural and linguistic contexts. Their work supported the launch of SEA-LION v4, a multimodal model built on Gemma 3.
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"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," says Dr. Leslie Teo, senior director of AI products at AI Singapore. "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, and we believe it will build further inroads towards bringing more impactful AI solutions that work for the millions of people - regardless of where they live and the language they speak."
Regional focus, global impact
Google DeepMind’s research in Singapore will also support Google Cloud customers across the region, with initial focus areas including education, healthcare and science, shares Ibrahim.
The regional focus, however, does not limit the lab’s broader ambition. "We might be doing [the research] here in the region, but it will have a global impact," says Ibrahim, citing work on weather prediction models and language capabilities that can benefit users worldwide.
The announcement coincides with Wednesday's launch of Gemini 3, Google DeepMind's most advanced AI model, which included contributions from the company's Singapore-based team.
"Google has been a part of the Singapore story for close to two decades, as home to our Asia Pacific headquarters. 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 — which is home to more than half the world's population — is not just consuming AI, but is an architect and developer of this transformative technology," says Sanjay Gupta, president of Google Asia Pacific.
Building on existing work
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The new research lab builds on work Google DeepMind has already been doing in Singapore.
It has collaborated with Singapore government agencies on several AI applications, including an agent sandbox with the Government Technology Agency of Singapore, the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore and the Infocomm Media Development Authority for testing autonomous solutions in the public sector.
Researchers at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and the National Neuroscience Institute also used the company's AlphaFold tool for breakthrough research on Parkinson's disease.
Beyond research partnerships, the company is providing Singapore students with one year of free access to its Google AI Pro Plan and supporting local AI start-ups through its Google for Startups: AI First accelerator.
Google DeepMind declined to disclose investment size or specific hiring targets for the lab. However, Ibrahim shares that the company is building its Singapore workforce through external hiring, internal transfers from Google, and repatriation of researchers with Singaporean roots who want to return home.
