Localisation and niche markets: How Singapore’s AI startups can stay competitive 

SINGAPORE’S artificial intelligence (AI) startups can hold their own against larger international players if they focus on niche markets and aim to localise, said industry players.

Laurence Liew, director of AI innovation at national AI programme AI Singapore, said big companies such as Microsoft, Amazon and Google tend to play a “horizontal game – serving a large user base all at the same time – and this leads to very generalised applications”.

These companies also have an interest in nurturing the startup ecosystem.