Singapore. Singapore agrees that the world should keep artificial intelligence (AI) open, even tapping a UN-backed commission amid the global dilemma over how much access should be given to large language models.

AI is currently advancing at lightning speed, and there are global calls to embrace open-source language models that allow users to use and modify the technology freely. This contrasts with “closed-source” counterparts commonly adopted by US developers, including Anthropic’s Claude, where usage comes with a fee. 

Earlier this month, tens of governments and tech executives formed the AI for Good Global Commission, an initiative backed by the UN digital technology agency ITU. The group says it wants to unlock AI’s benefits while closing the infrastructure gaps in developing economies.

Singapore’s digital development minister Josephine Teo, one of its commissioners, recently talked of this nascent initiative with Indonesian journalists. 

As the group irons out its work plan, Teo had pitched some ideas on what the commission could pursue beyond sharing best practices.

“Possibly, one of the global commission’s advocacies could be in the area of open-source and keeping models open,” Teo told a press briefing in her office.

According to Teo, many companies in the region have been able to access AI thanks to open-source models. “Closed models would be too costly for startups,” she said.

She finds that benefits of technologies tend to “only accrue to a few, and not to the many”. 

“It’s always a few companies and organizations at the frontier that move far ahead and leave people behind.”

Singapore itself already has a home-grown large language model, the Sea-Lion, which it launched to capture Southeast Asian contextual nuances amid Western-centric materials. Indonesia’s tech powerhouse GoTo is among its adopters. Teo said that this approach would allow ASEAN to “punch above its weight”.

Open-Source Debate

Singapore’s love for open-source came amidst tensions in the AI space, which has turned into another theater for great power competition. 

China is pro-openness, a stance contested by the US. American firms are keeping an eye on China’s recently unveiled world’s largest open-weight source model, Kimi K3 from the AI startup Moonshot. Its debut took place shortly after the US temporarily cut off foreign access to Anthropic’s powerful AI models.

Chinese President Xi Jinping had brought together dozens of countries, including Indonesia but not Singapore, into its World AI Cooperation Organization (WAICO) last week. The group has stated that its scope of work is promoting global AI governance, although the alliance is widely seen as Beijing’s attempt at challenging US dominance.

While avoiding mentioning Washington, Xi said: “AI development should not be a solo performance by a single country, but a symphony of international cooperation.”

Xi also called on the international community to "adhere to the principle of openness and win-win".

Read More: China’s WAICO or US-Led Pax Silica? Indonesia Stays Neutral