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Chinese AI firm SenseTime downsizes Singapore office amid post-ChatGPT competition
The retreat underscores the competition faced by SenseTime in a new AI era, and the changing fortunes of Singapore’s prime office market
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SenseTime Group is reducing its office footprint in Singapore, scaling back once-lofty ambitions at a time it is struggling to compete in the post-ChatGPT era.
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The Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) pioneer is moving from a prime downtown location to a smaller office in a less expensive neighbourhood, people familiar with the matter said.
The company is giving up a roughly 11,000 square foot (1,022 square metre) space in Frasers Tower for a less central building, the people said, asking to remain unidentified discussing private decisions.
SenseTime is downsizing at a time fellow tech firms including ByteDance are expanding abroad, seeking to escape an economic downturn back home. The retreat underscores how SenseTime, which in 2023 lost Alibaba Group Holding as a financial backer, is grappling with new rivals in a crowded AI arena.
It also reflects the changing fortunes of Singapore’s prime office market, which has depended on expansions from deep-pocketed Chinese firms in recent years. That is now softening as companies cut costs and real estate supply rises.
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