Singapore's AI boom draws OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Cursor, Z.ai and more to AI Engineer's first Asia edition

For the first time in its history, AI Engineer — the conference where the engineers and founders behind the world's most consequential AI systems show their actual work — is coming to Asia.

SINGAPORE, 6 APR 2026: Hosted in Singapore this May 15–17 at The Capitol Theatre, AI Engineer Singapore brings together headline sponsors OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Cursor and Z.ai, each sending speakers to the stage, alongside a lineup of more than 50 speakers to be announced in the weeks ahead. More than 2,000 engineers, founders, and builders are expected in person, with an estimated 50,000+ tuning in online.

"We've been running meetups for hundreds in borrowed rooms. Every single time, we run out of space before we run out of people who wanted to be there. AI Engineer Singapore isn't us going to find the frontier. It's the frontier and Singapore's builders, finally being in the same room at the same time, at a scale that matches what this community has always deserved."

— Sherry Jiang, co-founder of the 65Labs community, which is running AI Engineer Singapore.

A grassroots community impossible to ignore#

Behind the announcement is a grassroots builder community that has, over two years, become impossible to ignore. AI Engineer Singapore is organised by 65labs, a volunteer-run collective of startup founders and operators who began hosting local AI meetups in Singapore in 2023. The 65Labs community includes more than 5,000 individuals from all backgrounds: engineers, students, mid-career professionals and more.

The companies shaping the global AI frontier have repeatedly chosen 65labs as their trusted partner to reach Singapore's builder community: OpenAI's first official Codex hackathon in Singapore was with 65labs, Cursor chose them to host their first Singapore event, and 65Labs also ran the region's largest AI hackathon with more than 14 AI names onboard.

Every event they have run has outgrown the venues available to them. The demand that pattern revealed made one thing clear: the room needed to get much bigger. AI Engineer Singapore is that room.

Built by and for practitioners#

Unlike the mega-conferences that dominate Asia's tech calendar, AI Engineer is built by and for practitioners. Three days of technical talks, live demos, and workshops where engineers from the world's leading AI companies walk through what they actually shipped, what broke, and what they would do differently. No thought-leadership theatre. No armchair opinions about the future. The flagship US conference has sold out every edition it has run, and Singapore will mark its first chapter in Asia.

"Singapore has consistently been one of the most engaged and technically serious builder communities outside of Silicon Valley. The demand that comes out of this ecosystem: the questions people are asking, the things they are already building. This and so much more is why we wanted to bring an AI conference to Singapore that goes beyond fireside chats about the future of AI and instead, gets those at the frontier of the technology to show what's been built while running workshops to upskill attendees. AI Engineer is the right stage for that kind of conversation."

— Agrim Singh, co-founder of the 65Labs community.

Sponsors#

Sponsors for AI Engineer Singapore include OpenAI, Cursor, DeepMind, Z.ai, Featherless, Cloudflare, Convex, Daytona, Miromind, Stripe and more.

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AI Engineer Singapore takes place May 15–17, 2026 at The Capitol Kempinski, a landmark heritage venue in Singapore's City Hall district. Tickets and further information are available at ai.engineer/singapore.

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For press requests and media passes, please contact: Rachael De Foe ([email protected])

About 65Labs#

65labs is grassroots and proud of it. We started organising local AI meetups in Singapore in 2023. Since then, we have gone on to run the largest meetups and hackathons in the region. This is a labour of love for us — all of us work in full-time roles across the tech industry. Our mission is to bring together builders excited about staying at the frontier of AI. For more, visit 65labs.org.

About AI Engineer Singapore#

AI Engineer Singapore is the first Asia edition of AI Engineer, the world's leading conference for AI engineers. Taking place at The Capitol Kempinski, Singapore, the three-day event brings together engineers, founders, and builders from the world's leading AI companies for technical talks, live demos, and hands-on workshops focused on agent systems, developer tooling, and real-world AI deployment. No keynote theatre. No vendor pitches. Just the people shipping the most consequential AI systems in the world, showing their work. More than 2,000 attendees are expected in person, with an estimated 50,000 tuning in online. For more, visit ai.engineer/singapore.