Singapore must grab AI upside before the cycle turns, PM Wong tells global CEOs

Singapore cannot afford to wait for calmer conditions before cashing in on artificial intelligence, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong told a room full of global business leaders. Booms never last, he cautioned, which means the window to turn today's momentum into lasting gains is open right now. His message: move while the market is still climbing.

Wong made the case at the Forbes Global CEO Conference, an annual forum that pulls in chief executives from across the world. Putting the city-state's pitch in front of that audience matters, because these are the people who decide where capital, talent and regional headquarters end up. The timing also says plenty about how central AI has become to Singapore's economic thinking.

Beyond the investment story, Wong flagged the trickier problem of governance. Countries, he argued, still have to figure out how to contain highly capable autonomous AI systems that might slip beyond human command — the rogue-machine worry. That points to safeguards, rules and cross-border coordination, not just eagerness to deploy.

For industry, the subtext is that Singapore wants to be known as a place where AI can be built and rolled out quickly, with guardrails bolted on. Firms weighing a regional base or a research hub will read the twin signals — openness plus oversight — as a hint about predictability. Investors riding the AI trade, meanwhile, are being nudged to consider what happens once the excitement cools.

Why it matters for Singapore: A small economy with no hinterland cannot afford to trail in a technology this consequential, and its edge depends on staying in front of larger rivals. Should a correction arrive, the capabilities and companies assembled now will decide whether the country comes out stronger or simply slides with the market. Treating governance as part of the bet, rather than a drag on it, is how that gets done.