Lianhe Zaobao,

(Summarised translation)

Singapore¡¯s robotics industry is moving beyond its initial phase and steadily entering a stage of ¡°application maturity.¡± An increasingly well-developed ecosystem, advances in embodied intelligence technologies, including humanoid robots, are expected to bring new breakthroughs to the industry as a whole.

The nation sees embodied AI as a strategic growth opportunity and is investing heavily in testing environments, standards, and ecosystem integration rather than standalone robots. The sector is growing rapidly, with Singapore now having more than 300 robotics-related companies, a 50% increase from 2023. The market is also expected to expand from about US$400 million in 2025 to US$1 billion by 2030.

Associate Professor Mohan Elara from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) believes the industry has moved beyond experimentation and entered an ¡°application maturity¡± phase.

In manufacturing, Singapore ranks second globally in robot density. According to the International Federation of Robotics, Singapore deployed 770 robots per 10,000 workers in 2023, second only to South Korea.

However, Singapore has yet to produce a company capable of developing ¡°Optimus-level¡± humanoid robots¡ªsuch as Tesla¡¯s Optimus, which is designed to work as factory labour, caregivers, or even surgical assistants.

Mohan believes that while Singapore may lack large humanoid robot manufacturers, it continues to nurture many leading companies in various niche sectors. A clear example is LionsBot in the cleaning sector. At the same time, Singapore¡¯s strength lies in its system integration capabilities, effectively combining hardware, AI, collaboration platforms, data and operations, and deploying them in real-world settings.