[This is a sponsored article with the Singapore Government Partnerships Office.]
Singapore’s push in artificial intelligence (AI) has accelerated in recent years, with adoption expected to contribute billions to the economy.
To unlock this potential, the government is creating spaces that bring together industry, researchers, and public sector players to collaborate, innovate and share knowledge.
One such initiative is Lorong AI, launched in Jan 2025 by the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI). The hub provides a collaborative space for practitioners across sectors to connect, exchange ideas, and partner on AI projects.
Lorong AI has been operating as a pilot initiative at a WeWork co-working space at Cross Street over the past year. There is an activity held almost every day of the week, and in Feb 2026, Lorong AI expanded its operations to a larger space at Vidacity in one-north.
This expansion comes at a pivotal time, as Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong recently announced on Mar 2, 2026 that Kampong AI—Singapore’s first AI park combining work and living spaces—will be developed at one-north by 2028.
Vulcan Post went down to the new Lorong AI site at one-north to find out more about how Lorong AI is trying to bring people in the industry, as well as other sectors, together.
Lorong AI was inspired by large tech hubs overseas
Speaking to Vulcan Post, Edmund Zhou, director-in-charge of Lorong AI, shared that the idea for the hub came about following a visit by MDDI officers to large tech centres like Silicon Valley and Dubai’s Area 2071, a few years ago.
What they observed at these hubs was not just the presence of capital or talent, but people running into each other, conversations spilling beyond scheduled meetings, and communities forming around shared problems. Natural partnerships emerged from purposeful and incidental interactions.
This gave inspiration to open a place in Singapore where ideas and collaborations on AI can flow as freely as “conversations down an alley.” The name “Lorong AI” was chosen to reflect this vision—a local flavour for a space where people could gather to find out “what the word on the street is” about AI.
“If you are a practitioner, you can easily relate to some of the interesting things happening here,” Zhou said. “And if you are someone looking to explore, adopt, or just learn more about AI, this can also be a place for you.”
Lorong AI’s events can attract hundreds
Lorong AI started with trialling weekly ‘AI Wednesdays’ in 2024, before opening it up to the general public.
AI Wednesdays was created for public officers, and led by scientists, engineers, and researchers, covering various topics from technical deep dives on model development to discussions on emerging industry trends.
As the scope of engagement grew, programmes like ‘Co-working Mondays,’ ‘AI ToolsDays,’ ‘ThursTalks’ and ‘Fri-DIYs’—were added to the programming for the week, with the latest addition of ‘Out of Lorong Experiences’ and ‘Gotong Royong.’
“No two days are the same, as with every week,” said Assistant Director of MDDI, Muhammad Zahari bin Abu Talib, who is also one of the MDDI officers who oversees Lorong AI’s daily operations.
Of course, participant demographics expanded as well. Lorong AI now sees practitioners, industry players, and curious newcomers all coming together to learn from each other and explore potential collaborations.
Although Lorong AI’s initial WeWork space at Cross Street could only seat 70 people, talks by industry leaders from companies like OpenAI, Manus and Figma frequently attract over 100 attendees, far exceeding its capacity.
While the team invites companies to share their insights with the community, they draw firm lines to ensure the collaborative space isn’t used as a channel for product promotion. This keeps the focus on genuine knowledge-sharing and partnership-building.
The importance of face-to-face interactions
At Lorong AI’s newest one-north space, the team foresees more exciting events, workshops, and hackathons to come with its larger 140-person seating space.
It is intentionally designed as an open-concept space, which encourages informal conversations in which anyone can chime in, catalysing future collaborations.
Small, tangible details—like member lanyards or a board showing who’s around—make it easier to spot each other and start talking. With so much AI talent in one place, those casual interactions can quietly grow into new ideas and unexpected partnerships.
While it may seem ironic for a tech-driven initiative to emphasise physical space, the team believes that face-to-face interaction is essential for building the trust that drives partnerships. “If it’s purely virtual, a lot of things seem a little bit more transactional, and then the communication somehow lacks a little bit of the human touch,” Zhou noted.
In addition, if an individual ever needs help in any area, the Lorong AI team would suggest companies or individuals with expertise and link them up.
From conversations to concrete outcomes
In 2025 alone, Lorong AI saw 4,000 attendees across its events. It now has over 260 paying members, about two-thirds of whom are AI practitioners, with the remainder comprising researchers and curious newcomers working on products or programmes.
Besides locals, there have been transient visitors from overseas, who, on their pit stops in Singapore, give talks at Lorong AI’s programmes.
Impressively, more than 14 collaborations have sprouted from discussions at Lorong AI. The team’s goal is simple: “We are trying to increase the number of collisions through both engineered interactions via events and incidental interactions through co-working.”
For example, Zhou shared that a group of members who were comparing AI models ended up collaborating and publishing a research paper together. The paper, co-authored by responsible AI and cybersecurity experts, focused on detecting and disrupting hostile AI agents.
Another instance saw an individual with a limited AI background come into Lorong AI, thinking of ways to launch a business. Through involvement in the community, they acquired the skills and knowledge needed to develop an AI coach for physical fitness.
Lorong AI as a foundational piece of the bigger AI puzzle
Loy Hui Chien, one of the first distinguished contributors, shared that having a space like Lorong AI is vital to the AI scene in Singapore.
As someone who doesn’t work in the technology space, he has found the community at Lorong AI to be pivotal to his AI journey, from self-learning fundamentals to building a research agent that can curate sources and produce reports in minutes.
Especially for a small country like Singapore, we can do more with (more) synergy fostered amongst the AI community in spaces like Lorong AI.
Loy Hui Chien
Zhou, who has been closely involved in the initiative, sees it as a reinforcing loop: the more value participants derive from the space, the more like-minded individuals it attracts.
As Singapore positions itself in the global AI race, Lorong AI aims to play a role in building the collaborative networks that will drive the nation’s AI future.
Lorong AI will play a contributing role [to support Singapore’s AI landscape]. What we hear from people who come is that they appreciate having a community they can turn to.
Edmund Zhou
This vision of creating collaborative spaces extends beyond Lorong AI to initiatives like the upcoming Kampong AI, further cementing Singapore’s commitment to partnership-driven AI development.
In a domain defined by algorithms and automation, Lorong AI is betting that the real differentiator may still be something fundamentally human: the power of conversation.
You can find out more about Lorong AI here, and sign up for programmes through this link.
Inspired by Lorong AI’s community-driven approach? Beyond project guidance, the Singapore Government Partnerships Office has launched a new SG Partnerships Fund to support citizen-led initiatives at different stages of development.
Featured Image Credit: Lorong AI
