A national programme, not a startup
AI Singapore is a national research programme funded by Singapore’s National Research Foundation and hosted by the National University of Singapore. Hosting identifies its institutional setting, not ownership by the university. Its work spans research, practical engineering with organizations and the development of AI skills. [1][2]
A documented beginning
The government launched the programme in May 2017 to connect research capability, real-world experiments and talent development. This was the establishment of a national AI initiative, rather than an enacted law regulating AI systems. [3]
Language models for Southeast Asia
SEA-LION is a model project anchored by AI Singapore’s Products Pillar. It addresses Southeast Asian languages and regional context through several model generations. The documentation distinguishes models pretrained from scratch from later adaptations of other model families. Their checkpoint licenses and underlying dependencies differ, so SEA-LION is not a separate company or a single uniform access grant. [4]
Sources
- Privacy
AI Singapore · May 18, 2021
- AI Singapore
AI Singapore · retrieved Oct 23, 2026
- AI.SG: New National Programme to Catalyse, Synergise and Boost Singapore’s AI Capabilities
Singapore Government · May 3, 2017
- SEA-LION
AI Singapore · retrieved Oct 23, 2026