The Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX) of Singapore has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Google Cloud to significantly enhance the agency’s artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities across multiple domains, according to an official statement released on Tuesday, May 27.
Since the launch of its HTxAI movement on 1 June 2024, HTX has been aggressively expanding its AI talent pool, positioning itself as an AI-first agency dedicated to empowering an AI-enabled Home Team. Among its pioneering innovations is Phoenix — a suite of Large Language Models (LLMs) developed using Home Team data, designed to boost the accuracy and efficiency of tasks such as data analysis and information processing.
Building on a longstanding partnership, the new MoU aims to deepen collaboration between HTX and Google Cloud in several critical areas. These include AI security and cybersecurity research, AI model development, cloud platform infrastructure and services, AI-driven software solutions, as well as AI governance and training initiatives.
As part of the agreement, HTX will implement Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) Air-Gapped in 2025. This fully managed cloud solution offers complete isolation, enabling compliance with stringent sovereignty and regulatory requirements specific to Home Team agencies.
The collaboration will also focus on formulating AI governance frameworks and safety protocols tailored for public safety applications, emphasising Explainable AI, Robust AI, and overall AI safety measures.
“AI is poised to become a cornerstone of public sector operations, transforming how government agencies serve their constituents and make decisions. Our expanded partnership with HTX sees us working together to develop and deploy advanced AI and cloud solutions in the public safety domain in Singapore, and can serve as a model for governments around the world,” said Karan Bajwa, President, Asia Pacific, Google Cloud.
As part of this collaboration, both sides will also explore the development of a GenAI Solution Accelerator for deployment in GDC Air-Gapped, and the deployment of Google’s AI models on Vertex AI for agentic AI, robotics and embodied AI. These solutions that HTX and Google Cloud collaborate on can eventually be adopted by public safety agencies around the world, thus helping save lives and make the world a safer place.
Regarding cooperation in the area of AI modeldevelopment, GoogleCloud will work with HTX to train and finetune Google’s industry-leading AI models to advance HTX’s mission and operations.
“AI has the potential to transform our work in ensuring the safety and security of Singaporeans. The challenges we face in the realm of public safety are constantly changing, and we must stay ahead of the curve by leveraging the latest in AI technologies if we are to tackle them effectively,” said Ang Chee Wee, HTX’s Chief AI Officer and Assistant Chief Executive (Digital and Enterprise).
“As HTX builds up our 500-strong AI workforce, we will work with partners to bring in best-in-class AI tools, platform and infrastructure. We are confident that this collaboration with Google Cloud will propel HTX’s efforts to develop AI innovations for the Home Team to the next level, which would in turn bolster the safety of the public in Singapore.”
