The Singapore River and Merlion Park in the evening
Photography By Bobi | Moment Open | Getty Images
SINGAPORE — Singapore’s plan to invest more than $743 million into artificial intelligence over the next five years could strengthen its position as a global business and innovation hub, tech executives said.
In his Budget speech on Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said Singapore will invest more than 1 billion Singapore dollars over the next five years to further boost the country’s AI capabilities.
“Surprisingly, nearly three-quarters of business leaders globally are ill-equipped for AI transformation, believing their preparations are limited by time, people, and money,” said Nithin Chandra, managing partner of Southeast Asia at Kearney, a global management consulting firm.
“This initiative will help ensure that businesses can capitalize on the opportunities afforded by technological advancements and capture new opportunities,” said Chandra.
As part of the investment, Singapore will work to ensure it can secure access to the advanced chips “that are so crucial to AI development and deployment,” Wong said.
Singapore will also work with leading companies here and around the world to set up AI centers of excellence to spur innovation, he added.
“This will incentivize companies to adopt AI solutions, prioritize AI skills to keep their workforce competitive, and encourage strategic partnerships and knowledge sharing across the industry, thus spurring overall innovation,” said Jonathon Dixon, vice president and managing director of APAC at Cloudflare, a global cloud services provider.
Singapore workers are already the world’s fastest when it comes to adopting AI skills, according to LinkedIn’s Future of Work report released in August.
“The increased focus and investment in AI capabilities, talent, and industry development is also exciting and important for Singapore to strengthen its position as a business and innovation hub,” said Mao Gen Foo, head of Southeast Asia at American experience management company Qualtrics.
Singapore was among the first countries to publish an AI plan in 2019. In December, the Southeast Asian nation launched the National AI Strategy 2.0 — an updated version of its AI initiatives, outlining ways to prepare the economy to harness and utilize AI to empower workers and businesses.
“Sustaining focus on AI and [machine learning] will ensure Singapore’s prominence in technological advancements, strengthening its position as an attractive hub for businesses and talent in an increasingly digitalized global landscape,” said Pannie Sia, general manager of ASEAN at Workday, an American finance and human resources software vendor.
Singapore has “very high” potential as a global AI hub because of an environment that spurs innovation, Google Cloud executive Caroline Yap told CNBC in an earlier interview.
Google, Meta and Microsoft are among companies that have already tested the AI Verify tool or provided feedback.
As AI adoption grows, consumers must be reassured that their data is safe, and that technology is being used for good.
Sujith Abraham
senior vice president and GM of ASEAN, Salesforce
“The SG$1 billion allocation towards AI which also includes secure implementation of the National AI Strategy 2.0 demonstrates the government’s commitment towards fostering a trusted and responsible AI eecosystem,” said Sujith Abraham, senior vice president and general manager of ASEAN at Salesforce.
“As AI adoption grows, consumers must be reassured that their data is safe, and that technology is being used for good,” said Abraham.
The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the law requiring China-based ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok by Sunday or face an effective ban of the popular social video app in the U.S.
ByteDance has so far refused to sell TikTok, meaning many U.S. users could lose access to the app this weekend. The app may still work for those who already have TikTok on their phones, although ByteDance has also threatened to shut the app down.
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration, upholding the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which President Joe Bidensigned in April.
“There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community,” the Supreme Court’s opinion said. “But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary.”
Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch wrote concurrences.
TikTok’s fate in the U.S. now lies in the hands of President-elect Donald Trump, who originally favored a TikTok ban during his first administration, but has since flip-flopped on the matter. In December, Trump asked the Supreme Court to pause the law’s implementation and allow his administration “the opportunity to pursue a political resolution of the questions at issue in the case.”
In a post on his social media app Truth Social, Trump wrote that the decision was expected “and everyone must respect it.”
“My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!” Trump wrote.
Trump began to speak more favorably of TikTok after he met in February with billionaire Republican megadonor Jeff Yass. Yass is a major ByteDance investor who also owns a stake in the owner of Truth Social.
In a video posted on TikTok, Chew thanked Trump “for his commitment to work with us to find a solution that keeps TikTok available” in the U.S. He said use of TikTok is a First Amendment right, adding that over 7 million American businesses use it to make money and find customers.
“Rest assured, we will do everything in our power to ensure our platform thrives as your online home for limitless creativity and discovery as well as a source of inspiration and joy for years to come,” he said.
The nation’s highest court said in the opinion that while “data collection and analysis is a common practice in this digital age,” the sheer size of TikTok and its “susceptibility to foreign adversary control, together with the vast swaths of sensitive data the platform collects” poses a national security concern.
Under the terms of the law, third-party internet service providers such as Apple and Google will be penalized for supporting a ByteDance-owned TikTok after the Jan. 19 deadline.
If service providers and app store owners comply, consumers will be unable to install the necessary updates that make the app functional.
Representatives of TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Shou Zi Chew, CEO of TikTok, speaks to reporters outside the office of Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) at the Russell Senate Office Building on March 14, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images
On Jan. 10, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments from lawyers representing TikTok, content creators and the U.S. government. TikTok’s lead lawyer, Noel Francisco, argued that the law violates the First Amendment rights of the app’s 170 million American users. U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar argued that the app’s alleged ties to the Chinese government pose a national security threat.
Many TikTok creators have been telling their fans to find them on competing social platforms such as Google’s YouTube and Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, CNBC reported. Additionally, Instagram leaders scheduled meetings after the Jan. 10 Supreme Court hearing to direct workers to prepare for a wave of users if the court upholds the law.
Chinese social media app and TikTok look-alike RedNote rose to the top of Apple’s app store Monday, indicating that TikTok’s millions of users were seeking alternatives.
The Chinese government also weighed a contingency plan that would have X owner Elon Musk acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations as part of several options intended to keep the app from its effective ban in the U.S., Bloomberg News reported Monday.
Should ByteDance decide to sell TikTok to a U.S. company or group of investors, potential buyers may have to pay between $40 billion and $50 billion, according to an estimate by CFRA Research Senior Vice President Angelo Zino.
Whitney Wolfe Herd speaks onstage in Dana Point, California.
Joe Scarnici | Getty Images Entertainment
Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd will return to the company as CEO, a little more than a year after she stepped down from the role, the company announced Friday.
The company’s current CEO Lidiane Jones has resigned for “personal reasons,” Bumble said. Jones previously served as the CEO of Salesforce’s cloud-based messaging platform Slack. She will continue to helm Bumble until Wolfe Herd takes over in mid-March.
“I am deeply grateful for the transformative work Lidiane has led during such a pivotal time for Bumble, and her leadership has been instrumental in building a strong foundation for our future,” Wolfe Herd said in a statement.
Bumble is a dating app that encourages women to make the first move. Wolfe Herd founded the company in 2014 in an effort to foster a safer online dating community. Bumble went public through a successful initial public offering in 2021, but its market cap has tumbled from its debut of $7.7 billion to around $847 million.
The company said Friday that it expects to report total revenue and Bumble App revenue above the midpoint of its provided outlook ranges for its fourth quarter, and adjusted EBITDA within the disclosed outlook range.
Shares of the company popped 6% in premarket trading on Friday.
In addition to the CEO transition, Bumble said Ann Mather, who serves as a lead director at the company, will become chair of the board of directors.
“We are fortunate to have a passionate and engaged founder in Whitney to drive Bumble’s vision as the Company accelerates the execution of its strategy,” Mather said in a statement.
Bitcoin rejoined the crypto rally on Friday amid reports that President-elect Donald Trump could release an executive order making crypto a national priority as soon as day 1 of his new term.
The price of the flagship cryptocurrency was last higher by more than 2% at $103,174.90, according to Coin Metrics. The broader crypto market, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 index, was up another 1%, after a 4% increase Thursday.
Shares of exchange operators Coinbase and Robinhood advanced about 5% each. Trading activity in small cap cryptocurrencies benefits trading platforms. Appetite for smaller cap, higher risk coins has grown ahead of Trump’s inauguration, with litecoin surging 26% in the past two days.
The moves follow a Bloomberg report late Thursday that Trump could create the crypto advisory council he previously promised, giving the industry a voice within his administration. A bitcoin stockpile is part of discussions about a possible executive order that would cover several areas of crypto policy, the New York Times reported the same day.
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Bitcoin trades above $100,000 ahead of Trump’s inauguration
Coins and crypto projects outside of bitcoin arguably stand to gain more from clear and supportive policy and regulation as they’ve been more of a target of SEC lawsuits and alleged banking discrimination under the Biden administration. Some investors say bitcoin could see a rocket ship rally, however, if a national stockpile or reserve is established.
Bitcoin has been trading closely with stocks so far this year. It’s been in consolidation mode since late December, when Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell sounded an inflation alarm that subsided this week after two cool December inflation reports. Bitcoin ETFs have seen more than $1 billion in inflows in the past two days.
Investors expect any announcements from the incoming administration next week to send bitcoin higher – potentially to a new record. Heightened expectations come after warnings from Wall Street this month that although having a pro-crypto Congress and White House in 2025 is sure to be supportive for innovation in the industry and asset class, it could take a while before the market feels the impact.
“The new administration and a new SEC chairman opens the door for new opportunity in cryptocurrency innovation,” JPMorgan analyst Kenneth Worthington said in a note this week. However, he added, “we don’t see a next wave of cryptocurrency [exchange-traded product] launches as being meaningful for the crypto ecosystem given much smaller market capitalization of other tokens and far lower investor interest.”
Bitcoin’s record is $108,327.01, from Dec. 17. It’s up 9% in 2025.
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