Claude is rapidly closing the gap with ChatGPT in Singapore: AI startup market analysis
The artificial intelligence market in Singapore is undergoing tectonic shifts. Anthropic's Claude model is experiencing explosive growth among local startups, rapidly catching up to the previously dominant ChatGPT from OpenAI. Over the past 12 months, the number of paying Claude customers has increased by 258%, and total spending on this platform has surged 17-fold. These figures indicate a serious reassessment of priorities in the Singaporean ecosystem.
Just a year ago, OpenAI's lead was enormous: 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 just a 1.5-fold advantage. Claude's share of total spending by Singaporean startups on AI platforms has reached 37% — meaning nearly every third dollar spent on AI goes to Anthropic's solutions.
The overall trend is also impressive: the number of Singaporean startups actively using any AI tools has grown by 42%. At the same time, strategic diversification is observed — the number of companies working with three or more AI platforms simultaneously has more than doubled. This suggests that startups are no longer relying on a single provider but are building flexible multi-model architectures.
My expert commentary: Claude's growth in Singapore is not a coincidence but a natural result of Anthropic's aggressive positioning in the Asia-Pacific region. Startups are increasingly choosing Claude for its emphasis on safety and interpretability, which is critically important for fintech and regulatory-sensitive sectors that form the backbone of Singapore's economy. If current trends continue, we could see parity or even ChatGPT being overtaken in market share in this region by mid-next year.