Technology
Yitu won the face-search segment of a face-recognition competition conducted by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) earlier this month.
Yitu Technology’s CEO Leo Zhu (fourth from right) meeting with the Singapore delegation from MHA and EDB. (Photo: Yitu)
SINGAPORE: Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company Yitu Technologies said on Friday (Nov 17) it will be setting up a research and development hub in Singapore – the first outside its home country.
In a press release, Yitu said plans for the R&D hub came after discussions were held between the company and Singapore officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Economic Development Board (EDB). The latter also witnessed the company’s award-winning facial recognition technologies, it added.
The Chinese company, founded in 2012, won the face-search segment of a face-recognition competition conducted by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) earlier this month.
The Singapore delegation also learned more about the application of Yitu’s technologies in areas such as security, finance, transportation and healthcare, the press release said.
CEO and founder of Yitu Leo Zhu said the decision to open a R&D facility in Singapore is because it is an international hub, and a good place to start off compared to other countries in the region.
“The AI vision for Singapore is that once it has started its AI development, there will be a ripple effect across other countries and regions as Singapore has a good reputation, and other companies will possibly follow in the country’s footsteps,” said Mr Zhu.
The National Research Foundation (NRF) had in May said it will invest up to S$150 million into a new national programme called AI.SG, which is aimed at boosting Singapore’s artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities over the next five years.
