US Singapore Shared Principles and Collaboration on Artificial Intelligence

On June 5, 2024, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Raimondo and Singapore Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo co-led a Roundtable on Artificial Intelligence (AI) with U.S. and Singapore companies and government officials. The Roundtable underscored the importance of the close and long-standing relationship between the United States and Singapore, which has grown to include close economic cooperation on digital issues.

This bilaterally coordinated fact sheet reflects the two countries’ shared interest in deepening our cooperation in critical and emerging technologies (CET). It provides an overview of shared principles and objectives related to AI, as well as plans for future collaboration between the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) and Singapore’s Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI).  

We believe that the rise of AI, including generative AI, brings with it new and developing opportunities, including the ability to enhance economic and social welfare and digital inclusion, to accelerate and advance socially beneficial research and scientific discovery, to support more competitive and environmentally sustainable economic growth, and to promote fair and competitive markets. Our two governments recognise the tremendous potential of AI for good, including for the advancement of environmental sustainability, education, and healthcare. Anchored by the extensive and robust economic linkages between our countries, whereby nearly 6,000 U.S. companies currently operate in Singapore and bilateral trade supports nearly 250,000 jobs across the United States, our private sectors have also invested significantly in AI. Technology spending in Singapore reached SGD 22 billion, the equivalent of USD 16.3 billion in 2023, with the United States being the top foreign investor. In recognition of this, U.S. companies’ existing and committed capital investments in AI over the next few years, in partnership with Singapore players in the local ecosystem, exceed SGD 50 billion (USD 37 billion). U.S. companies are making investments in Singapore’s local workforce, infrastructure, and R&D, including through establishing AI Centres of Excellence in line with Singapore’s National AI Strategy 2.0. In addition, companies on both sides have committed to partnering to raise the AI capabilities of over 130,000 workers in Singapore, building on the strong support which U.S. companies have already provided for the TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA), Singapore’s national tech upskilling initiative.

At the same time, the United States and Singapore also recognise the need to mitigate the challenges that come with the rapid, global proliferation of AI. To fully realise AI’s benefits, Commerce and MCI have thus overseen the development of new frameworks—the AI Risk Management Framework, developed by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) at Commerce, and AI Verify, developed by the Singapore Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) at MCI—for the safe, secure, and trustworthy development, deployment, and evaluation of AI technologies; and the two sides have also completed a mapping exercise between the two frameworks. Both sides recognise that the testing and evaluation of AI technologies should take into account trustworthiness considerations that can support the objectives of AI governance frameworks. We believe AI governance should also take into consideration relevant international standards and internationally recognised principles and guidelines, including those on explainability, transparency, accountability, fairness, inclusivity, robustness, reproducibility, security, safety, data governance, human-AI configuration, inclusive growth, and societal and environmental well-being.  

Commerce and MCI intend to continue cooperating on AI to advance an inclusive and forward-looking agenda for economic growth and to boost AI competitiveness for both the United States and Singapore. To this end: 

·       NIST and IMDA will continue to cooperate through the exchange of best practices and other information concerning AI governance frameworks, including the NIST AI Risk Management Framework and IMDA’s AI Verify. NIST and IMDA intend to continue collaboration to address the next generation of AI, including mapping our respective frameworks for generative AI, exploring cooperation on testing, guidelines, and benchmarks, and engaging the broader community where appropriate.   

·       The U.S. AI Safety Institute, housed within NIST, and Singapore’s Digital Trust Centre, its AI Safety Institute funded by IMDA and National Research Foundation, Singapore, are planning important collaborations on advancing the science of AI safety, which will operate as a crucial linkage in a global network of AI safety institutes and other government-supported scientific institutions.  

·       Commerce and MCI will also engage in collaborative activities that support the responsible design, development, deployment, and evaluation of AI technologies alongside the encouragement of commercialisation opportunities, development of international standards, research cooperation, workforce development, and industry cooperation.  

·       Today, Commerce and IMDA are announcing they will also seek to launch a new AI Talent Bridge programme. This initiative expands on the U.S.-Singapore Women in Tech Partnership Program launched by Secretary Raimondo and Minister Teo in 2022. In the months ahead, it will deepen collaboration between the United States and Singapore on critical emerging technology, including AI, with an emphasis on supporting youth, women, and future leaders in tech. 

The strong cooperation on AI between Commerce and MCI is designed to complement and build on ongoing work in other bilateral platforms, such as the U.S.-Singapore Partnership for Growth and Innovation established by Commerce and Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry, as well as the AI Governance Group established under the U.S.-Singapore CET Dialogue. It also ties in with efforts to develop a bilateral Roadmap for Digital Economic Cooperation, as announced under the U.S.-Singapore CET Dialogue, which will include AI among other priority areas. We seek to share our learnings and best practices from these bilateral efforts with other partners in the region, and to lend appropriate support for broader efforts through our AI governance work with international standards bodies, the ASEAN AI Roadmap, and the ASEAN Guide on AI Governance and Ethics, endorsed during Singapore’s ASEAN Digital Chairmanship this year.