Closing Remarks by Minister Josephine Teo at Google for Singapore 2026 at Google Singapore

Good afternoon, colleagues and friends. Thank you to Google for inviting me back for the second edition of Google for Singapore.

Dr Sinha, Excellency, US Ambassador to Singapore, I've visited Google many more times than you. But each visit brings new surprises and each interaction with the very dynamic Google team in Singapore encourages me that there is greater impact that we can create together.

In my work, I'm often asked: “How does Singapore think about digital development? And what are your plans for AI?”

The most exciting things happening in technology include AI. In just 48 hours, the Prime Minister, who is also our finance minister, will be delivering the Budget statement.

• What I can share, without giving too much away, is that there are very significant announcements about AI – particularly how we will accelerate its adoption in the industry amongst enterprises and within the workforce.

• In Singapore, we like to say ‘akan datang’. It means ‘coming soon’.

It is useful to ground all efforts we are making in AI on our broader approach to digital development. There is a reason why we chose to think about it as digital development instead of digital technologies or digital advancement.

The presentation you just heard across the four different pillars accurately captures the breadth we think about when we ask ourselves: “what outcomes do we want to see from our efforts in digital development?”

It's not just having a vibrant digital economy. It's also about having a cohesive and stable digital society where people and communities can live harmoniously with one another, and that's not always a given.

It's about digital security, how comprehensive it is, how we trust day-to-day interactions we have online with other individuals, systems, and services.

It is also important for us as policy makers to challenge how we can be progressive as a digital government. Not laggards, but leaders in the adoption of the most advanced tools available, to improve the quality of our delivery to citizens and encouraging them to believe that technology can be a force for good.

It's also important for us as a Government to know exactly how technology operates. If we didn't, we would have little credibility and would also be quite circumscribed in how we think about the way to govern and when regulations make sense.

This is the broader thinking we have about digital development. If you unpack it and say: “what are the different components and pillars?” There are a couple:

• Everything in the online world has to be grounded in some form of infrastructure.

• There is only so much you can push through digital pipelines, unless you invest in growing infrastructure. That means putting in place not just data centres, but also how we build up the network – whether a mobile or broadband network -- and how we think about submarine cables that connect us to other countries, regions and globally.

• All this digital infrastructure takes years of planning, because they don't materialise overnight. In our context right now, even though we have data centre capacity -- one of the densest, relative to our population and GDP -- we are still creating headroom.

• We want to do it in a responsible way, one that is environmentally sustainable. That means greener data centres, which essentially boils down to two things: data centres that use less energy and data centres that use greener energy.

• Beyond that, there is also opportunity to push the boundaries.

• For example, we are interested in chips that can work effectively using less energy. We are even asking ourselves, “Can algorithms be written in a greener way?”

• There is scope – not just putting more dollars to build up data centre capacity but also pushing the boundaries of innovation that could eventually benefit not just Singapore, but many other places that are energy constrained around the world. That is just the infrastructure pillar.

Many discussions go down to those levels of sophistication. I'm glad that those conversations are continuing.

Another important area in digital development is building capabilities. There are capabilities at the workforce level that speak to the importance of ensuring individuals have confidence and capacity to use AI tools and think about transforming their own work processes as well as their domains, with the power that AI brings to them.

But individual capability development is only one part. It is frustrating for individuals who feel AI-enabled to go back to their workplaces, only to find that no one else is interested. The capacity, then, to bring their individual skills into the workplace and transform into higher order capability is what is lacking. We believe there must be a way to make the two work together.

There is also capabilities development at the industry and government level. For that, we need to crowd in our resources and colleagues in the research and development community, and those amongst our technology teams working within the government.

Here again, there are many exciting areas that Google and Singapore can partner on.

A few months ago, when Thomas Kurian was in Singapore, we talked about how Singapore's experimentation with using agents and Google Agentspace is a good foundation. We are continuing to try and push the boundaries.

I'm therefore delighted to know that Google will build the Google Cloud Singapore Engineering Center. The reason is it’s not theoretical. When we talk about the potential of AI agents, you have to put into production, find the case, and architect you can count on, especially when the government interacts with the public.

A point of failure will almost always create too much excitement, and we want to ensure that whatever is put out is properly tested and built with all the necessary safeguards.

There are three other areas. I will not go into them in great detail.

• For example, what Karen just described is our whole approach to regulations and legislation.

• However, the approach we take in Singapore, especially when dealing with impacts of technology, is first to ask whether existing laws and regulations already enable us to deal with outcomes that may not be helpful or desirable for society, before we think about whether new laws or regulations need to be added.

• In this process, conversations that we have with companies like Google makes us more thoughtful about the right things to do. Thank you for continuously engaging with us and enabling us to make more meaningful interventions when necessary.

Another area is crowding in the entire community. We need to accept that when it comes to technology developments, the answers lie in more than one entity. The value is in bringing people together, allowing them to offer their perspectives and suggest the right solutions. This is an area we enjoy working with Google on.

One final area I wanted to touch on and share with Google is an opportunity for the future. We believe that whatever we create in Singapore goes further when others get a chance to benefit from them.

That is why, some years ago, when we decided to refresh our National AI Strategy, we decided it should be AI for the Public Good – not just for Singapore, but also for the world.

That gives me a great sense of hope, especially when I see that some projects we are working on – MedGemma and Google DeepMind – are good examples of how we can stretch the potential further.

I interact with my colleagues around the world. For example, next Wednesday, I head to New Delhi for the AI Impact Summit. In May, Singapore is holding the Asia Tech Summit, where we bring together our colleagues to discuss the issues that matter in technology development. At the current time frame, AI is of greatest interest.

I would also like to suggest to Google to think about how the products, services, and innovations that you are creating in Singapore can be showcased to the world through these platforms. Some events take place in Singapore, and others where Singapore participates – we are happy to share those exciting developments.

In 2027, Singapore will chair the Association for Southeast Asian Nations’ annual meetings. There will be many developments in the ASEAN domain that will be relevant to you.

• For example, ASEAN member states are coming together on a digital economy agreement. Some elements of this framework will have great opportunities presented to companies like Google. While you are anchored in Singapore, the markets extend beyond. There is also tremendous interest in the innovations that you can bring to other markets.

I look forward to all future exchanges we will have across many different domains and pillars.

Congratulations on all areas you have advanced and made progress on.

I am confident that the next time I visit, there will be more innovations and more exciting developments. Congratulations once again.