The AI agent market in Singapore: Claude sharply narrows the gap with ChatGPT among startups
Singapore's artificial intelligence market is undergoing a tectonic shift. According to the latest data from fintech platform Aspire, demand for Anthropic's Claude model among local startups has skyrocketed: over the past year, the number of paying customers of the service increased by 258%, and spending on it grew 17-fold.
A year ago, the situation looked completely different. At that time, OpenAI had more than four times as many paying startup clients in Singapore as Anthropic. However, now the gap has narrowed to 1.5 times — an impressive leap that indicates Claude's growing competitiveness. This platform's share of total spending on AI tools has reached 37%, signaling a significant redistribution of budgets.
Against this backdrop, a steady trend is emerging: the number of Singaporean startups actively using AI tools has grown by 42%. Particularly noteworthy is that the number of companies working with three or more platforms simultaneously has more than doubled. This points to market maturity: businesses are moving away from relying on a single provider and are diversifying their risks by testing different models.
Expert commentary: Claude's growth in Singapore is not a coincidence but a natural result of Anthropic's strategy, which has bet on safety and algorithm transparency. However, OpenAI should not be written off: their ecosystem and integrations remain the gold standard. Over the next 12 months, we will see fierce competition for corporate clients, and startups will serve as the testing ground for determining the future leader.