{"text":[[{"start":6.74,"text":"AI heavyweights including Anthropic and OpenAI are putting pressure on office rents in Singapore as they embark on ambitious expansion plans in response to government overtures."}],[{"start":17.26,"text":"Several of the world’s fastest-growing tech companies have established Singaporean outposts in the past year as the city-state’s leaders try to make it a global AI hub."}],[{"start":25.9,"text":"Some groups are in talks to expand their presence in Singapore by taking more office space. That is putting pressure on the already squeezed property market, with predictions that city-centre rents could rise by as much as 10 per cent over the next year."}],[{"start":39.38,"text":"“This is creating a happy problem for landlords,” said Lawrence Tan, associate director at property agency Brilliance Capital. “There is a real crunch coming in the next 12 to 18 months.”"}],[{"start":49.96,"text":"The government has prioritised attracting high-growth tech companies as part of a national strategy to put AI at the centre of Singapore’s economy. The push comes amid a dearth of available city-centre property developments."}],[{"start":61.74,"text":"OpenAI has made one of the biggest commitments to Singapore, setting up its first applied AI lab outside the US and announcing an investment of more than S$300mn (US$237mn). The ChatGPT creator has said it will hire more than 200 staff in Singapore in the coming years, many in engineering roles."}],[{"start":81.26,"text":"The company is in talks to lease 100,000 sq ft of office space, occupying five floors in a newly renovated central tower, according to people with knowledge of plans first reported by the Business Times. OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment."}],[{"start":95.38,"text":"OpenAI recently poached Meta executive Sandhya Devanathan to run its south-east Asian and Australian operations from Singapore."}],[{"start":102.62,"text":"Rival lab Anthropic, which has received significant investment from Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, plans to open an office in the city centre in October. Its recruitment page features several Singapore-based finance roles that oversee the Asia-Pacific region."}],[{"start":117.54,"text":"Google DeepMind has set up a research lab in Singapore, while transcription tool Plaud and French start-up Mistral have said they will each have at least 100 staff in the city-state by the end of the year."}],[{"start":127.72,"text":"AI data company Databricks is planning to quadruple its Singapore office footprint by the end of the year when it takes up 32,000 sq ft of space. The group employs more than 250 people in Singapore — including its general manager for Asia-Pacific and Japan — and plans to increase headcount by half in the next year."}],[{"start":147.38,"text":"These companies are competing for an increasingly shrinking pool of top-end office units that meet their requirements of having strong network connections and high levels of security, and being centrally located."}],[{"start":159.58,"text":"Vacancy levels for the most desired units are at a 13-year low of just 3.1 per cent, according to real estate company Savills. This is mainly due to the lack of supply of new developments, with the next wave of new office blocks not scheduled to open until early 2028."}],[{"start":176.12,"text":"Alan Cheong, of Savills Singapore, said many AI companies were taking far more space than they need now due to rapid expansion: “They are flush with cash and they are throwing money around.”"}],[{"start":187.9,"text":"With 100,000 sq ft of office space, OpenAI would be able to house as many as 800 staff, property analysts said."}],[{"start":194.7,"text":"Although Hong Kong office rents tend to be higher, the Chinese territory has more capacity than Singapore and the cost difference between the two Asian hubs is narrowing."}],[{"start":203.94,"text":"US tech companies are unlikely to favour Hong Kong, however, because of geopolitical tensions between Washington and Beijing."}],[{"start":212.32,"text":"Singapore has put AI at the heart of its economic strategy and launched a special National AI Council this year, chaired by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. Its open access approach has made it a popular destination for international expansion for both US and Chinese AI companies."}],[{"start":227.72,"text":"Additional reporting by George Hammond in San Francisco"}],[{"start":233.3,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1789886318_2488.mp3"}