The Singapore government has opened a public consultation on whether copyrighted works should be allowed to train artificial intelligence systems, according to The Straits Times. The move invites citizens and stakeholders to share their views on a question that is reshaping creative and technology industries worldwide.
The consultation, reported by The Straits Times on Wednesday, asks for input on the legal boundaries of using protected material in AI development. It comes as courts and regulators in multiple countries grapple with the same issue, with no clear international consensus emerging.
The question sits at the centre of a broader global debate. TechCrunch has noted that the legality of training AI models on copyrighted books remains complicated, with no straightforward answer under existing law. Meanwhile, a German court has recently ruled on U.S. copyright claims, and commentators at The New York Times have pointed to what they describe as the "original sin" of AI firm Anthropic's Claude model, suggesting that early decisions on training data may carry lasting consequences. Telegraph India has also framed the issue as central to the future of information and how copyright law should adapt to artificial intelligence.
Singapore's consultation signals that policymakers are moving from abstract debate to concrete rule-making. The outcome could influence how AI companies source training data and how creators are compensated, if at all.
What to watch next: the submissions that emerge from the consultation and whether Singapore's final position aligns with or diverges from approaches taken in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere.
