AI Race in Singapore: Claude Closes in on ChatGPT Among Startups
Singapore's startup ecosystem is experiencing a tectonic shift in AI tool preferences: Anthropic's Claude is showing explosive growth, narrowing OpenAI's ChatGPT's long-standing dominance. This is not just a statistic—it's a signal of changing market paradigms.
Over the past 12 months, the number of paying Claude customers among Singaporean startups has increased by 258%. Even more impressive are the expenditures on this service—they have skyrocketed 17-fold. For comparison: a year ago, OpenAI had more than four times as many paying startup customers as Anthropic. Today, that gap has narrowed to 1.5 times.
Claude's share of total AI platform spending among Singaporean startups has reached 37%. This means that nearly one in every three dollars spent on AI tools in this segment goes to Anthropic. This dynamic is particularly notable against the backdrop of overall market growth: the number of startups using AI tools has increased by 42%.
A structural change in consumer behavior is also observed: the number of companies working simultaneously with three or more AI platforms has more than doubled. This indicates that startups are no longer betting on a single provider and are diversifying their AI strategies.
Expert commentary: Claude's growth in Singapore is not a coincidence but a natural result of Anthropic's strategic positioning. The company has bet on AI safety and ethics, which is especially valued in the regulated Asian market. However, OpenAI should not be written off: the gap still exists, and on a global scale, ChatGPT remains the dominant player. The main question now is whether Anthropic can sustain this growth rate outside of Singapore, or if this is a local phenomenon driven by the specific needs of Asian startups.