On 4 December 2023, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (“IMDA“) announced that it would be partnering with AI Singapore and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research to launch the National Multimodal Large Language Model Programme (“NMLP“). The NMLP seeks to be Southeast Asia’s first Large Language Model (“LLM“) ecosystem.
Funded by the National Research Foundation, the NMLP is a S$70 million initiative that seeks to develop Singapore’s research and engineering capabilities in multi-modal LLMs and support Singapore’s National AI Strategy 2.0. In particular, the NMLP aims to:
(a) Build skilled AI talent in Singapore;
(b) Foster a thriving AI industry to develop LLM-enabled solutions; and
(c) Enable Singapore to build a trusted environment in using AI and develop a base model with regional context.
IMDA has highlighted the importance of developing sovereign capabilities in LLMs. The NMLP thus focuses on the development of multimodal and localised LLMs for Singapore and the region to understand context and values related to the diverse cultures and languages of Southeast Asia (for example, managing context-switching between languages in multilingual Singapore).
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