Claude is rapidly catching up with ChatGPT in Singapore's startup ecosystem
The artificial intelligence market in the Asian region is undergoing tectonic shifts. An analysis by the fintech platform Aspire demonstrates impressive growth in the popularity of Anthropic's Claude among Singaporean startups. Over the past 12 months, the number of paying customers for this service has surged by 258%, and spending on it has increased 17-fold.
Just a year ago, OpenAI's position in Singapore seemed unshakable: the number of startups paying for ChatGPT was more than four times higher than Anthropic's comparable figure. However, today the gap has narrowed to 1.5 times, indicating a fundamental shift in market preferences.
It is particularly telling that Claude's share of total spending by Singaporean startups on AI platforms has reached 37%. This means that, while ChatGPT still holds the lead in terms of customer numbers, Claude is already posing serious competition in terms of usage intensity and willingness to pay.
The overall picture is also impressive: the number of startups in Singapore adopting AI tools has grown by 42%. Meanwhile, the number of companies working with three or more platforms simultaneously has more than doubled. This points to market maturity—startups are no longer tying themselves to a single provider but are diversifying their AI strategies.
My expert assessment: Claude's growth is not just a temporary spike but a signal that the AI assistant market is entering a phase of healthy competition. Anthropic has managed to offer startups what has proven critically important for Singapore's business environment—a balance between performance, security, and cost. If this trend continues, we could see parity between the two giants in key Asian ecosystems within the coming quarters.