ATxSummit 2026 officially opened in Singapore with President Tharman Shanmugaratnam attending the Opening Gala Dinner at Gardens by the Bay, where global policymakers, technology leaders and AI researchers gathered to discuss the future of artificial intelligence and digital transformation.
The summit, part of Asia Tech x Singapore (ATxSG), has brought together leaders from governments, international organisations and technology companies, including OpenAI, Amazon, NVIDIA and Trip.com Group. Notable participants include OpenAI Chief Revenue Officer Denise Dresser, Amazon Chief Global Affairs & Legal Officer David Zapolsky, NVIDIA Chief Scientist William Dally, and deep learning pioneer Yoshua Bengio.
A key highlight of the event was the inaugural AI Ready ASEAN Youth Challenge, which showcased 11 AI-driven projects developed by young innovators across ASEAN nations. The competition, organised by AI Singapore in partnership with the ASEAN Foundation and supported by Google.org, attracted over 600 submissions focused on healthcare, education, agriculture and social inclusion.
The top prize was awarded to Brunei-based team ΣHAI for its AI-powered dementia care platform that uses speech, language and video analysis to support early detection of cognitive decline and improve caregiver guidance. Teams from Cambodia and Myanmar secured second and third place for projects focused on speech support for hearing-impaired children and offline AI-powered education for rural students, respectively.
Healthcare innovation also featured prominently at the summit. SingHealth signed a partnership with Bhutan’s Gyalpozhing College of Information Technology to deploy AI-assisted diagnostic tools powered by the MerMED-FM medical imaging model. Meanwhile, Singapore General Hospital partnered with A STAR’s Diagnostics Development Hub to accelerate AI-enabled precision diagnostics targeting antimicrobial resistance and early memory loss detection.
The announcements underscore Singapore’s growing ambition to position itself as a leading regional hub for trusted and socially impactful AI innovation.
