PUBLISHED ONOctober 13, 2026 8:50 AMBYKhoo Yi-HangSingapore and several other countries have engaged frontier artificial intelligence (AI) firms to seek greater transparency and co-operation in addressing future AI-related threats, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam said on Tuesday (Oct 13).
Senior Minister Shanmugam was at the Singapore International Cyber Week (SICW) at Marina Bay Sands Exhibition and Convention Centre, which has seen attendance from dignitaries of various countries and technology firms.
Speaking with media, SM Shanmugam shared that he has met with major firms including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Amazon among others.
He explained that the key ask from Singapore — and many other countries — was the need for transparency immediately, as governments need to know exactly what has happened in real time.
This comes in the wake of a rogue artificial intelligence (AI) agent from ChatGPT maker OpenAI breaching an Australian health-system database earlier this year.
"That was the main ask," he said. "And then of course one of the key purposes of this conference is to try and deepen the partnership between government and industry — and I'm not only talking about Singapore Government."
"We are all now dependent on these major tech companies. They have the technology, they have the platforms, they have the resources, and countries have to work with them."
Shanmugam further stressed that there was a need to "exchange notes" with frontier AI firms, also requesting that they provide an early warning should incidents occur.
Speaking on the SICW, he also said that the meetings he's had and will have over the course of the event present the opportunity to "find common ground" to improve the situation for all countries.
Shanmugam also addressed a question on whether cutting-edge AI cybersecurity tools should be made available to governments and the general public.
He shared his perspective that AI has the potential for causing widespread havoc and even physical damage in the hands of "bad people".
"If that is so, then would you automatically make it available broadly, or would you put a framework around it as to who can access it?" He rhetorised.
"It's just like would you give very powerful weapon systems to anyone? There are reasons why these things are controlled, and I think there is a reason for being careful about who gets to access cutting-edge tools and under what conditions."
His perspective was also echoed in a response by the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) to Parliamentary questions on Oct 6, evaluating threats that frontier AI models could pose.
"AI becomes more capable of acting on our behalf, we must correspondingly introduce more robust safeguards," MDDI stated then.
"We must be clear about what it is allowed to do, ensure that humans remain in control and accountable where it matters, and continue strengthening our ability to understand emerging risks and respond when problems occur."
Shanmugam also launched Singapore's Cybersecurity Strategy (SCS) 2026 at the SICW on Tuesday morning, stating how rapid advances in AI have made cybersecurity immensely challenging.
"There will be more incidents, more attacks," he said. "All of us have to shore up our cyber defences and our resilience to recover when attacks happen."
To do so, Shanmugam highlighted three prongs of the SCS, beginning with the need for Singapore to act earlier.
He emphasised the need for Singapore's defences to be continuous, commenting: "We need to consistently monitor and hunt for threats, identifying weaknesses before adversaries do so, and correcting them quickly."
Next, Singapore also needs to act at scale — to do so, the Government will be enhancing the National Cybersecurity Command Centre (NC3), which was set up in 2024.
NC3 is the Cybersecurity Agency's operations hub for national cyber defence, and aims to provide an understanding of vulnerabilities and threats, detect threat actors and mount a response to these threats.
The enhanced NC3 will strengthen the Cyber Security Agency's ability (CSA) to better anticipate and detect sophisticated cyber threats, strengthen the protection of Critical Information Infrastructure (CII), and coordinate responses to major cyber incidents.
One of the key enhancements is the introduction of a new national tool, known as the Protective Domain Name Service (PDNS), to block access to malware and phishing sites.
This is expected to be rolled out in 2027.
Said Shanmugam: "When someone tries to connect to a domain which is known to be malicious, the PDNS can stop the connection before the threat reaches the user. This will potentially help to reduce exposure to phishing, scams, malware and other cyber threats."
Lastly, Singapore must also act at speed, matching that of the threat.
"If AI allows attackers to identify vulnerabilities and conduct attacks more quickly, then the defenders will have to use AI too," SM Shanmugam explained.
Therefore, the Government will progressively deploy AI across national cyber defence operations, including within NC3 and the Government Cyber Security Operations Centre.
"Singapore will continue to build up our resilience by strengthening our own capabilities and safeguarding our national interests," SM Shanmugam said in closing.
"But resilience does not mean retreating from the world. Far from it. For Singapore, resilience is what gives us the confidence to remain connected to the world."
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khooyihang@asiaone.com
