Launch of AI TechXplore – Speech by Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister for Digital Development and Information

Mr Chan Tsan, CE, HTX

Distinguished guests,

Colleagues,

1. Thank you for inviting me. Since this is an event organised by HTX, which is the tech enabler of the Home Team in Singapore, the subject matter is unsurprisingly “public safety”.  

2. Like its counterparts elsewhere in the world, the Singapore Home Team appreciates how technology is changing the landscape for public safety.  Criminals are exploiting technology in ways never before imagined. As a result, law enforcement agencies must understand how the technologies are being misused. That is not enough. We must also have the capabilities to use technology to fight crime and do better for our people.

3. Crimefighters everywhere should learn and help each other make better use of technology, in particular, AI.  This would be in line with the vision of our refreshed National AI Strategy launched by then Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in December 2023, which is to use “AI for the Public Good, for Singapore and the World”.

4. I am very glad that HTX is organising its Artificial Intelligence (AI) TechXplore for the first time and highlighting this aspect of your work to prospective recruits attending Careers@HTX.

5. By doing so, you are sending a strong message of how AI will become a critical force multiplier to transform the Home Team’s operations. And yet at the same time, this does not mean that we will no longer need human talents to accomplish our mission.  On the contrary, it is the combination of Home Team Officers and AI that can truly deliver higher levels of public safety.

6. I am also glad that HTX has been at the forefront of using AI for the public good and steadily building up AI use cases. Almost a year ago, HTX announced its intention to hire and groom a 500 strong AI workforce and to set aside a S$400 million budget for AI projects. Recruitment has gathered good momentum and HTX is on track to grow its AI workforce to 300 by the end of this year. Concurrently, more than 300 AI use cases across the Home Team have been identified and the first batch of deployments in operations are expected by the end of this year. The Home Team envisages AI to enhance operational effectiveness, improve officers’ user experience and achieve productivity gains of around 30% in many of the use cases. There is a range – sometimes, productivity gains in examples that I have seen can be as high as 100%. But if you average them out based on the current use cases that we are following up on, the average is about 30%.

7. In other words, HTX has made remarkable progress in building new AI-powered capabilities for the Home Team, and you will see some of them at the AI TechXplore today.

8. To further strengthen the Home Team’s capabilities in the next bound of AI development, HTX will make a strategic investment in Embodied AI and humanoid robotics development. This commitment will be anchored by the new Home Team Humanoid Robotics Centre or H2RC, to be launched in the second quarter of 2026. H2RC will push the frontiers of AI and will also be supported by a significant commitment of S$100 million. It will be a pioneering research facility where roboticists and AI practitioners from HTX, industry, and academia will converge to shape the next frontier of robotics in public safety. This initiative marks a fundamental shift in the development of robotics capabilities in the Home Team – from today's pre-programmed systems to tomorrow's GenAI-powered intelligent platforms that can move, think, and act autonomously to protect and save lives.

9. With more advanced capabilities, we expect to deploy these robots to a wider range of hazardous scenarios, where our officers have often face risks to life and limb. These scenarios range from handling dangerous materials and navigating high-risk environments, to fighting fires, and assisting with post-disaster search and rescue operations around the world. These capabilities have the potential to fundamentally transform Home Team operations.

10. But, even as HTX pushes the boundaries of AI development, the Home Team is committed to developing and deploying AI responsibly. First, the revised MHA AI Governance Framework and an associated AI Governance Playbook, will ensure that our AI systems are developed ethically and safely. Second, we are investing in R&D of Responsible AI practices, such as HTX's WhiteBox platform to rigorously test and validate AI solutions before deployment.

11. Thankfully, HTX is not alone on the journey to fully exploit AI's potential for public safety while putting in the necessary safeguards. 

12. In our mission to keep Singapore and Singaporeans safe and secure, strong partnerships help HTX build capabilities well beyond its own resource constraints. These are particularly important in AI infrastructure, AI platforms, GenAI model development, and Agentic AI. To this end, HTX has signed collaboration instruments with best-in-class players in AI: Google, Microsoft, Mistral AI, and Firmus; while continuing to strengthen existing collaborations with key local industry leaders such as ST Engineering, NCS and Singtel.

13. The collaboration with Mistral AI is already delivering early results. At today’s AI TechXplore, HTX will launch Phoenix, a Large Language Model pre-trained on the Home Team lexicon by HTX and Mistral AI Engineers. Essentially Phoenix understands our lingo. It has achieved excellent benchmark results comparable to frontier models of its size and is not easily confused by Singaporean and Home Team terminologies. Internally, when we speak with each other, we have a language model, and it is important that this AI model is able to grasp our language in order to be able to produce results that are relevant in our context. It is great that Phoenix can also grasp Singapore’s major languages including Bahasa Melayu and Tamil. Phoenix will form the “brain” for Home Team's AI capabilities, ensuring that the AI that powers Home Team capabilities is familiar with the Singaporean and Home Team context. 

14. I would like to sincerely thank our industry and academic partners for walking this AI journey with us. Your support and collaboration have been key to HTX building AI capabilities at speed and scale, and the Home Team deeply appreciates it.

15. AI TechXplore showcases HTX's technological innovations in public safety. The innovative work on display is just the beginning. With the right talent, there's no limit to what we can achieve together, which is why the Careers@HTX fair is happening right here with the hashtag theme #WFH. This is not the usual ‘Work From Home’, but ‘Work For HTX’. We hope that this will inspire aspiring technologists who are seeking to make meaningful impact to public safety. We want to invite them to help us push the boundaries of what's possible in building and applying AI to public safety use cases. HTX is growing its AI workforce, and are hiring for over 150 positions across its AI R&D, AI Products, and AI Enablers teams. I encourage all those who are exploring avenues for career growth to consider the many roles available at HTX. 

16. To wrap up, thank you all for joining us at AI TechXplore and for your continued support. Your presence means a lot to us. I wish everyone a pleasant afternoon, as well as an engaging experience. Thank you!