National AI Strategy Update 2026

On 20 May 2026, Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo unveiled an update to the National AI Strategy in her opening keynote at ATxSummit 2026. She framed the update as a "double-click rather than a system reboot" — building on the NAIS 2.0 framework while layering in the elevated ambitions of the National AI Council (NAIC), established in February 2026 and chaired by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

Three directions, ten refreshed priorities: covering sectoral and public-sector transformation, talent and infrastructure, governance and international cooperation.

Four National AI Missions (sectoral transformation focus): - Advanced Manufacturing — consolidating Singapore's manufacturing-AI edge, connecting with embodied AI from the same-day NVIDIA Singapore AI Research Lab - Financial Services — extending the FEAT / Veritas / MindForge / BuildFin.ai five-layer stack - Connectivity — 5G and data infrastructure - Healthcare — AI-assisted diagnosis, chronic disease prediction, personalised medicine

Two enterprise-adoption programmes: - National AI Impact Programme — targets meaningful AI adoption by 10,000 SMEs - Champions of AI — provides deeper, more targeted support for leading enterprises

Teo used the Changi Airport T5 expansion to illustrate the point that "a new terminal alone won't do the job" — hardware and software innovation must move together. AI isn't about showy capabilities, it's about solving concrete operational problems.

Together with same-day announcements of the NVIDIA Singapore AI Research Lab and the Punggol Digital District multi-operator robot testbed, the update marks Singapore's AI strategy shifting from a planning phase to a delivery phase.