Temasek Plans to Grow AI Investments from 6% to 15% of Portfolio
Source: The Business Times
Temasek aims to nearly triple its AI-linked investments to 15% of its S$518 billion portfolio. The investment giant has been building AI capabilities since 2016 through Aicadium and an internal AI pod, and is now pushing portfolio companies like DBS and ST Engineering to accelerate AI adoption.
Temasek, Singapore's state investment company overseeing a record S$518 billion portfolio, plans to nearly triple its AI-linked investments from 6% to 15% of its portfolio, Temasek Global Investments CEO Chia Song Hwee revealed in an interview with The Business Times. The target signals the depth of Temasek's conviction in artificial intelligence as a structural investment theme spanning the next decade.
Temasek's AI journey began well before the current boom. Back in 2016, the investment firm identified digitisation as one of four key structural trends guiding its investments. In 2019, it established an AI-focused pod with hands-on engineers applying analytics and machine learning, and later founded Aicadium, a dedicated AI company with over 60 technologists across Singapore and the US that co-innovates and scales AI products with Temasek's portfolio companies. The investment firm already holds stakes in AI heavyweights including Anthropic and has been actively supporting portfolio companies like DBS, Singapore Airlines, and ST Engineering to accelerate their AI adoption through dedicated forums and strategic guidance.
Chia emphasised that AI is not just an investment theme for Temasek but an operational tool to improve its own investment performance. The company is using AI to lower the probability of missing out on good investments by improving deal sourcing, due diligence, and portfolio monitoring. This dual approach — investing in AI companies while applying AI internally — positions Temasek differently from most institutional investors that treat AI as purely an external allocation theme.
Why it matters for Singapore: Temasek's aggressive AI push sends a powerful signal through Singapore's investment ecosystem. As the country's largest institutional investor with deep ties across the economy, Temasek's commitment to growing AI investments to S$77 billion+ effectively underwrites Singapore's AI startup ecosystem and encourages portfolio companies across banking, aviation, and infrastructure to prioritise AI transformation. For Singapore's National AI Strategy 2.0, having a homegrown investment giant actively deploying capital into AI both locally and globally provides a structural funding advantage that few other markets can match.