On June 5, 2024, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Raimondo and Singapore Ministerfor Communications and Information Josephine Teo co-led a Roundtable onArtificial Intelligence (AI) with U.S. and Singapore companies and governmentofficials. The Roundtable underscored the importance of the close and long-standingrelationship between the United States and Singapore, which has grown toinclude close economic cooperation on digital issues.
This bilaterally coordinated fact sheet reflects the two countries’ sharedinterest in deepening our cooperation in critical and emerging technologies(CET). It provides an overview of shared principles and objectives relatedto AI, as well as plans for future collaboration between the U.S. Departmentof Commerce (Commerce) and Singapore’s Ministry of Communications and Information(MCI).
We believe that the rise of AI, including generative AI, brings with itnew and developing opportunities, including the ability to enhance economicand social welfare and digital inclusion, to accelerate and advance sociallybeneficial research and scientific discovery, to support more competitiveand environmentally sustainable economic growth, and to promote fair andcompetitive markets. Our two governments recognise the tremendous potentialof AI for good, including for the advancement of environmental sustainability,education, and healthcare. Anchored by the extensive and robust economiclinkages between our countries, whereby nearly 6,000 U.S. companies currentlyoperate in Singapore and bilateral trade supports nearly 250,000 jobs acrossthe United States, our private sectors have also invested significantlyin AI. Technology spending in Singapore reached SGD 22 billion, the equivalentof USD 16.3 billion in 2023, with the United States being the top foreigninvestor. In recognition of this, U.S. companies’ existing and committedcapital investments in AI over the next few years, in partnership withSingapore players in the local ecosystem, exceed SGD 50 billion (USD 37billion). U.S. companies are making investments in Singapore’s local workforce,infrastructure, and R&D, including through establishing AI Centresof 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 capabilitiesof over 130,000 workers in Singapore, building on the strong support whichU.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 needto mitigate the challenges that come with the rapid, global proliferationof AI. To fully realise AI’s benefits, Commerce and MCI have thus overseenthe development of new frameworks—the AI Risk Management Framework, developedby 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 completeda mapping exercise between the two frameworks. Both sides recognise thatthe testing and evaluation of AI technologies should take into accounttrustworthiness considerations that can support the objectives of AI governanceframeworks. We believe AI governance should also take into considerationrelevant international standards and internationally recognised principlesand guidelines, including those on explainability, transparency, accountability,fairness, inclusivity, robustness, reproducibility, security, safety, datagovernance, human-AI configuration, inclusive growth, and societal andenvironmental well-being.
Commerce and MCI intend to continue cooperating on AI to advance an inclusiveand forward-looking agenda for economic growth and to boost AI competitivenessfor both the United States and Singapore. To this end:
· NIST and IMDA will continue to cooperatethrough the exchange of best practices and other information concerningAI governance frameworks, including the NIST AI Risk Management Frameworkand IMDA’s AI Verify. NIST and IMDA intend to continue collaboration toaddress the next generation of AI, including mapping our respective frameworksfor generative AI, exploring cooperation on testing, guidelines, and benchmarks,and engaging the broader community where appropriate.
· The U.S. AI Safety Institute, housedwithin NIST, and Singapore’s Digital Trust Centre, its AI Safety Institutefunded by IMDA and National Research Foundation, Singapore, are planningimportant collaborations on advancing the science of AI safety, which willoperate as a crucial linkage in a global network of AI safety institutesand other government-supported scientific institutions.
· Commerce and MCI will also engagein collaborative activities that support the responsible design, development,deployment, and evaluation of AI technologies alongside the encouragementof commercialisation opportunities, development of international standards,research cooperation, workforce development, and industry cooperation.
· Today, Commerce and IMDA are announcingthey will also seek to launch a new AI Talent Bridge programme. This initiativeexpands on the U.S.-Singapore Women in Tech Partnership Program launchedby Secretary Raimondo and Minister Teo in 2022. In the months ahead, itwill deepen collaboration between the United States and Singapore on criticalemerging 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 complementand build on ongoing work in other bilateral platforms, such as the U.S.-SingaporePartnership for Growth and Innovation established by Commerce and Singapore’sMinistry of Trade and Industry, as well as the AI Governance Group establishedunder the U.S.-Singapore CET Dialogue. It also ties in with efforts todevelop a bilateral Roadmap for Digital Economic Cooperation, as announcedunder the U.S.-Singapore CET Dialogue, which will include AI among otherpriority areas. We seek to share our learnings and best practices fromthese bilateral efforts with other partners in the region, and to lendappropriate support for broader efforts through our AI governance workwith international standards bodies, the ASEAN AI Roadmap, and the ASEANGuide on AI Governance and Ethics, endorsed during Singapore’s ASEAN DigitalChairmanship this year.
