Google on Tuesday said it is investing over $6 million in new research grants and capacity-building at National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), alongside a new research hub in Singapore.
The company said the funding aims to drive breakthroughs in artificial intelligence for science and compute efficiency, strengthen AI safety frameworks, and nurture scientific leaders. Google said it is also continuing to scale existing health research in the country, including bringing open models like MedGemma to frontline care settings.
NUS will receive a $1.5 million AI for Science Google.org Impact Challenge Grant to advance neurodegenerative disease research using AI models and data science. Google said the project was selected from over 3,500 global applications. NUS will also receive $500,000 for work on machine learning efficiency, focusing on sustainable compute, model serving optimization, and regional language processing.
NTU will receive $340,000 for four sponsored research studies on AI safety and security. Google said the studies will focus on advancing AI safety frameworks, robust evaluation methodologies, trustworthy multi-agent systems, and privacy-preserving large language model watermarking. In addition, a $750,000 AI for Science Capacity Fund Grant at NTU will help build permanent research capabilities across Southeast Asia. Under Professor Ho Teck Hua’s regional academic leadership, the initiative will establish lasting infrastructure, foster internal research agents, and build ethical AI frameworks, according to Google.
Google.org and Google DeepMind are also providing $3 million to support INSEAD’s Thrive Lab in Singapore. Google said the lab aims to advance global research into how people and organizations can thrive alongside rapid technological change, including how education, workplaces, and communities can better support skill development, purpose, and relationships.
Google said it met with NUS leadership to align on new research infrastructure and cross-disciplinary workstreams, and with NTU leadership to discuss partnerships across frontier research and AI safety, science, and education.