Anthropic has opened a commercial office in Singapore and formalised a partnership with the government to support artificial intelligence adoption across the public sector. The move strengthens the company’s presence in Asia-Pacific and reflects Singapore’s growing role as a regional hub for enterprise AI development and deployment.
The new office is Anthropic’s fifth location in the Asia-Pacific region. The opening was announced by Dale Finlay, General Manager of ASEAN at Anthropic, alongside co-founder Ben Mann, Head of APAC Policy Michael Sellitto, and Singapore’s Minister for Digital Development and Information, Josephine Teo.
Anthropic says establishing a local team will help it work more closely with organisations deploying its Claude AI models, particularly those requiring high standards of reliability and security.
The partnership was formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding signed by Singapore’s Ministry of Digital Development and Information and Anthropic during Singapore International Cyber Week.
Government and Enterprise AI Adoption
Singapore has emerged as a significant market for Anthropic’s technology. The country ranks second among 121 nations in Claude.ai usage relative to population, with adoption nearly six times higher than demographic projections would suggest.
Within the public sector, GovTech Singapore has more than 1,500 technical personnel using Claude Code to modernise government systems and accelerate software development. The adoption reflects a broader effort to incorporate AI into software engineering and internal operations.
Private-sector organisations are also integrating Anthropic’s tools into their workflows. Ride-hailing company Grab uses BriX, an internal sales assistant powered by Claude, which reportedly saves representatives approximately 40,000 hours every quarter.
Sea, the parent company of Shopee and Garena, deploys Claude Code across its engineering teams and also provides the tool to its Monee business. Developer platform Supabase uses Claude Code within its core engineering operations.
DBS, Southeast Asia’s largest banking group, has also adopted Claude for commercial activities. For financial institutions and other organisations with strict data residency requirements, Anthropic’s technology can support in-region inference through Amazon Bedrock.
Collaboration on AI Safety and Security
The partnership builds on existing cooperation between Anthropic and Singaporean institutions. In 2023, the company joined Singapore’s Generative AI Evaluation Sandbox, working with the Infocomm Media Development Authority and the AI Verify Foundation.
The programme included multilingual red-team evaluations covering English, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil. These assessments examined how AI systems behave under adversarial testing across multiple languages, helping identify potential risks and weaknesses.
The new agreement establishes a framework for continued technical exchanges with Singapore’s security organisations, including the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore. The parties will also examine how small and medium-sized enterprises can adopt AI effectively.
Independent safety evaluation remains another component of Anthropic’s broader approach. The company provides employee-level access to METR, a nonprofit organisation that evaluates the capabilities and risks of advanced AI systems, and maintains ongoing technical discussions with developer platform Hugging Face.
These initiatives reflect the growing importance of testing AI systems beyond their performance on conventional benchmarks, particularly as adoption expands into government services and regulated industries.
Developer Ecosystem Gains Momentum
Anthropic’s local expansion also includes efforts to build relationships with Singapore’s software development community.
The company’s Builder Summit Singapore attracted more than 300 software engineers, followed by a community event attended by over 700 local builders. These gatherings provide opportunities for developers to explore Claude-based tools, share implementation experiences, and discuss practical applications.
A stronger local presence could help Anthropic respond to the needs of regional businesses while supporting wider adoption of AI-assisted software development.
Singapore Strengthens Its Position as an AI Hub
The agreement highlights Singapore’s strategy of combining AI deployment with institutional collaboration, cybersecurity evaluation, and enterprise adoption. By bringing Anthropic closer to government agencies and local businesses, the partnership could accelerate the use of AI across public services and commercial operations.
For Anthropic, the new office provides a stronger regional foothold in a market where adoption is already substantial. The challenge will be translating that momentum into sustainable deployments that meet the reliability, security, and regulatory requirements of organisations operating in sensitive environments.
As governments and businesses continue to evaluate advanced AI systems, Singapore’s approach offers an example of how public-sector partnerships and technical safety assessments can develop alongside commercial adoption.
