Google says Singapore has ‘very high’ potential to be a global AI hub
American multinational technology company Google logo seen at Googleplex, the corporate headquarters complex of Google and its parent company Alphabet Inc.
Alex Tai | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images
SINGAPORE — Singapore has “very high” potential as a global AI hub — thanks in part to an environment that fosters innovation, a Google Cloud executive told CNBC.
“In order for AI to really deliver on its potential, you need really good public and private partnerships,” Caroline Yap, managing director, global AI business and applied engineering at Google Cloud, told CNBC.
Yap was speaking on the sidelines of Explore AI summit in January, a meeting hosted by Google Cloud and the Singapore government to recognize the top generative AI solutions from organizations that took part in the “AI Trailblazers” initiative.
The initiative was first announced in July by Singapore’s Ministry of Communications and Information, Digital Industry Singapore, Smart Nation and Digital Government Office, and Google Cloud.
“… when you do have good public and private partnerships, you can really start to not just improve the public sector use cases like citizen services, but you can also foster an environment for innovation,” said Yap.
Singapore was one of the first countries with an AI game plan and in December, launched the National AI Strategy 2.0 — an updated version of its plans to expand the use of AI.
As part of the AI trailblazers initiative, two sandboxes were set up to provide as many as 100 organizations in the city-state with access to Google Cloud’s high-performance graphical processing units, Vertex AI platform, pre-trained generative AI models, and low-code developer tools. That enables to build and test their own generative AI solutions in a controlled and dedicated cloud-based environment.
Through the joint partnership, 43 organizations across government and industry sectors successfully built their own generative AI solutions utilizing Google’s AI stack.
At the same time, it also benefits Singaporeans as a whole, “either as consumers of these technologies or being in the economy as it grows for these types of innovation,” said Yap.
On whether other governments are as open and collaborative as Singapore, Yap told CNBC, “some are, some aren’t.” She did not elaborate on which countries they were.
“In many ways, Singapore already possesses the right foundations needed to flourish as a global AI hub,” said Kenddrick Chan, senior policy analyst at Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
“The government has launched various AI initiatives, supported local research on AI and engages private sector tech companies in consultative dialogues in its policymaking process.”
The Center for Security and Emerging Technology said Singapore’s star “continues to rise as an AI hub” presenting significant opportunities for international collaboration. The center is a think tank within Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service.
“Initiatives such as fast-tracking patent approval, incentivizing private investment, and addressing talent shortfalls are making the country a rapidly growing global AI hub,” CSET said in a March report.
“There is also thinking at the national level about the ethics and governance issues of AI. All of this helps position Singapore as a key player in the global AI landscape,” said Chan.
He added there are “some challenges ahead” for Singapore such as fierce competition for top AI talent from other hubs.
AI craze
Interest in AI exploded when OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT — which has the ability to generate humanlike responses to users’ prompts — took the world by storm in November 2022.
During the Explore AI summit on Jan. 29, Singapore’s Minister for Communications and Information said partnerships are “yet another important aspect of good governance.”
“We partner for inclusion. Inclusion means making sure that people not only have access to the tools, but they are provided with opportunities to grow the skills that will enable them to use these tools well,” said Josephine Teo.
Singapore has been making efforts to promote the responsible use of AI.
The country rolled out AI Verify in May 2022 – the world’s first AI governance testing framework and software toolkit for companies – that enables users to conduct technical tests on their AI models and record process checks.
Companies such as Google, Meta, Microsoft and Singapore Airlines have already tested the AI Verify tool or provided feedback.
Packages with the logo of Amazon are transported at a packing station of a redistribution center of Amazon in Horn-Bad Meinberg, western Germany, on Dec. 9, 2024.
Ina Fassbender | Afp | Getty Images
German antitrust regulators warned Amazon on Monday that the company’s pricing mechanisms for third-party sellers could run afoul of competition laws.
The Federal Cartel Office said in its preliminary assessment that Amazon’s pricing controls limit the visibility of merchants’ products and, “based on non-transparent marketplace rules,” interfere with their freedom to set prices.
Amazon uses algorithms and statistical models to calculate certain price caps for products, the Cartel Office said. Products that are flagged as having “prices that are too high” or “prices that are not competitive” can then be demoted in search results, excluded from advertising or removed from the buy box, they added.
The buy box is the listing that pops up first when a visitor clicks on a particular product, and the one that gets purchased when a shopper taps “Add to Cart.”
“Competition in online retail in Germany is largely determined by Amazon’s rules for the trading platform,” Federal Cartel Office President Andreas Mundt said in a statement. “Since Amazon competes directly with other marketplace retailers on its platform, influencing competitors’ pricing, even in the form of price caps, is fundamentally questionable from a competition perspective.”
Amazon’s pricing practices not only threaten sellers’ businesses, but could also harm other retailers by deterring them from offering lower prices, the Cartel Office said.
An Amazon spokesperson said the company strongly disagrees with the Cartel Office’s preliminary findings. They added that any changes to Amazon’s pricing mechanisms would be “bad for customers and selling partners.”
“If Amazon is prevented from helping people find competitively priced offers, it will lead to a bad shopping experience for them, as we’d need to promote uncompetitive or even abusive pricing in our store,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “This would mislead customers into thinking they’re getting good value when, in reality, they’re not.”
Amazon can provide feedback to the Cartel Office on its preliminary assessment before it reaches a final decision.
Amazon in 2022 reached a deal with European Union antitrust regulators who were investigating its use of seller data and buy box practices. As part of the settlement, Amazon agreed to display a second buy box on products sold in Europe when there is a second competing offer that’s different on price or delivery.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is also probing Amazon’s use of pricing algorithms on its sprawling third-party marketplace as part of a wide-ranging antitrust lawsuit filed in 2023. Amazon has said the FTC’s complaint is “wrong on the facts and the law.”
The case is set to go to trial in October 2026.
Dr. Matthew Willsey working in the operating room.
Courtesy of the University of Michigan
Neurotech startup Paradromics on Monday announced it has implanted its brain-computer interface in a human for the first time.
The procedure took place May 14 at the University of Michigan with a patient who was already undergoing neurosurgery to treat epilepsy. The company’s technology was implanted and removed from the patient’s brain in about 20 minutes during that surgery.
Paradromics said the procedure demonstrated that its system can be safely implanted and record neural activity. It’s a major milestone for the nearly 10-year-old startup, as it marks the beginning of its next chapter as a clinical-stage company.
Once regulators give it the green light, Paradromics plans to kick off a clinical trial later this year that will study the long-term safety and use of its technology in humans.
“We’ve shown in sheep that our device is best in class from a data and longevity standpoint, and now we’ve also shown that it’s compatible with humans,” Paradromics founder and CEO Matt Angle told CNBC in an interview. “That’s really exciting and raises a lot of excitement for our upcoming clinical trial.”
A brain-computer interface, or BCI, is a system that deciphers brain signals and translates them into commands for external technologies. Paradromics’ system is called the Connexus Brain-Computer Interface, and the company says it will initially help patients with severe motor impairments such as paralysis speak through a computer.
Paradromics’ BCI has not been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and it still has a long road ahead before it reaches commercialization.
But for Angle, who founded the company in 2015, the procedure in May was a success, and one that was years in the making.
“You do all of these steps, you validate the hardware, you have this really high degree of rational certainty that things are going to work,” he said, “but still emotionally when it works and when it happens the way you expected it to, it’s still very, very gratifying.”
Though Paradromics’ BCI has not been officially cleared for use by regulators, organizations like the University of Michigan can use new devices for research as long as they can demonstrate that there is not a significant risk to patients.
Dr. Oren Sagher, professor of neurosurgery at the University of Michigan, oversaw the traditional clinical component of the procedure in May. Dr. Matthew Willsey, assistant professor of neurosurgery and biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan, led the research component, including the placement of Paradromics’ device.
BCIs have been studied in academia for decades, and several other startups, including Elon Musk‘s Neuralink, are developing their own systems.
Paradromics’ Connexus Brain-Computer Interface.
Courtesy: Paradromics
“It’s absolutely thrilling,” Willsey said in an interview. “It’s motivating, and this is the kind of thing that helps me get up in the morning and go to work.”
Each company’s BCI is slightly different, but Paradromics is designing a BCI that can record brain activity at the level of individual neurons.
Angle compared this approach to placing microphones inside vs. outside a stadium. Inside a stadium, microphones would capture more detail, such as individual conversations. Outside a stadium, microphones would only capture the roar of the crowd, he said.
Other prominent BCI companies include Synchron, which is backed by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, and Precision Neuroscience. Both have implanted their systems in humans.
Paradromics has raised nearly $100 million as of February, according to PitchBook. The company announced a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Neom in February, but declined to disclose the investment amount.
“The last demonstration stuff has been shown, and we’re really excited about the clinical trial that’s coming up,” Angle said.
WATCH: Inside Paradromics, the Neuralink competitor hoping to commercialize brain implants before the end of the decade
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