Instead of generic advice like “eat more fibre,” consumers in Singapore may receive recommendations shaped by their own biology and goals in the near future. This will be enabled by a precision nutrition programme based on a collaboration between Google and local health-tech start-up Amili.
Using Google’s technology stack, the programme analyses Amili’s large-scale Asianmicrobiome, health, and lifestyle data todevelop a digital classification framework thatgroups individualsby their health and microbiome profiles. After which, the tool leverages Gemini’s reasoning capabilities to translate microbiome and users’ health insights into personalised coaching and guidance.
To scale the impact, Google and Amili are exploring further collaboration with the National Healthcare Group to bring the tool as part of a wider precision nutrition programme in Singapore.
This project demonstrates how frontier AI can be made practical and inclusive for Asia Pacific markets.
The same philosophy underpins Google’s expanded partnership with AI Singapore to adapt a foundational health AI model for local needs using Google’s open medical model MedGemma.
That fine-tuned model can be deployed locally within hospitals and research labs to ensure patient information remains behind institutional firewalls. The aim is to enable AI-assisted applications tailored to Singapore’s healthcare needs while addressing privacy concerns.
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Turning research into products
To scale enterprise AI applications beyond healthcare, Google launched the Google Cloud Singapore Engineering Center to shorten the path from experiment to commercial deployment, particularly in markets where consumer behaviour and regulation differ from Western benchmarks.
The hub will house a new multidisciplinary team of software engineers and frontline support teams. They will work directly with Singapore-headquartered enterprises on challenges from language localisation to hyper-scale logistics, as well as emerging sectors such as robotics, electric vehicles and clean energy.
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Close partnership and co-innovation between technology providers and organisations delivers two advantages that matter most in the AI era: speed and precision in execution, says Moe Abdula, vice president for Customer Engineering at Google Cloud Asia Pacific, at the Google for Singapore event earlier today.
He adds: “When you collaborate and get to the depth of understanding of what works locally, you start to build better product roadmaps. You start to build things that don’t work just for local context, but they also work globally.”
At the same event, Singapore's Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo said the initiatives reflect Singapore’s ambition to develop technology with regional impact. “We believe that whatever it is that we create in Singapore goes further when others get a chance to benefit from them. That is why, some years ago, when we decided to refresh our National AI Strategy, we decided that it should be AI for the public good – not just for Singapore, but also for the world.”
The Google Cloud Singapore Engineering Center is part of a wider expansion of Google’s research and development (R&D) presence in Singapore. The company said it will scale specialised teams across software engineering, user experience (UX) design and research science, with a strategic focus on growing Cloud engineering capabilities.
“We are growing our engineering and R&D teams in the country… not just to bring Google’s technology here, but to build solutions alongside Singapore that solve its unique challenges and drive new growth,” says Ben King, Google Singapore’s managing director.
Google has maintained its Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore since 2007, with nearly 3,000 employees today.
Equipping Singaporeans with practical AI skills
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Recognising that innovation must be paired with homegrowntalent, Google has launched new initiatives to equip Singaporeans with practical AI skills.
For instance, Google AI Living Labs, in partnership with the Ministry of Education, will provide physical labs for students and educators to learn and build with the latest AI tools through hands-on workshops and industry collaborations.
The first lab has been established at ITE College East, with plans to expand to Nanyang Polytechnic and other institutions, aiming to reach 50,000 Singaporean educators and students by 2027.
Google is also partnering with the Infocomm Media Development Authority to roll out the Skills Ignition SG AI Challenge, a three-month accelerator focused on applying AI beyond technical roles.
The programme will train 500 graduates and mid-career professionals to design AI-powered workflows for fields such as accountancy, human resources, legal, and sales and marketing.
Participants will also receive resume and interview coaching from Google teams to improve job readiness, and top performers will be invited to explore opportunities within the company.
“Since 2020, our programmes have helped upskill nearly 350,000 Singaporeans. By working with the government, schools,and businesses, we’re embedding AI training everywhere — from the classroom to the workplace— to empower every Singaporean with theskills they need to stay job-ready and create new opportunities with AI,” says King.
(Updated at 3pm with new quotes from Google Cloud's Moe Abdula and Singapore's Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo)
