Anthropic Signs AI Safety and Security Agreement with Singapore Government

Anthropic, the company behind the Claude AI model, has opened its fifth Asia-Pacific office in Singapore and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Singapore Ministry of Digital Development and Information. The signing took place on the sidelines of Singapore International Cyber Week. Anthropic says Claude already supports business and government services used by millions of people in Singapore, including GovTech Singapore, Grab and DBS.

The MOU sets out areas of cooperation in AI safety, security and model evaluation; research on AI adoption and its impact; and responsible adoption across the public and private sectors. Anthropic co-founder Ben Mann said the company believes capability and safety must go hand in hand. Kai Fong Chng, the Ministry's Permanent Secretary, said trust is critical for businesses, workers and the public to use AI with confidence.

The agreement builds on earlier work. Anthropic joined the Generative AI Evaluation Sandbox run by the Infocomm Media Development Authority and the AI Verify Foundation in 2023. It later partnered with them on a red-teaming project, which tests AI systems for weaknesses, in English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil. For Australian businesses, the announcement shows governments and AI providers in the region formalising cooperation on testing and security of AI tools.