Singapore’s Wong Warns AI Tech Rally Faces Eventual Correction

Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong cautioned that the global tech rally powering regional economic growth will inevitably face a market correction, saying his government intends to capitalize on the current window of opportunity before trade momentum cools.

“At some point there will be a correction and we don’t know when it will happen or how it will happen,” Wong said Thursday at the Forbes Global CEO Conference in Singapore. “We don’t know who the casualties will be when it happens, but no boom is indefinite. So our approach is to make good use of this window of opportunity now.”

The remarks follow broader concerns from across a tech industry that has warned the AI surge is running hot. Those worries deepened last month when top industry executives urged a slower pace of advanced model development to prevent the technology from slipping beyond human control.

Top-performing Asian economies like Singapore have seized the lion’s share of regional trade growth in the global AI boom, driven by soaring demand for semiconductors and tech-related hardware. With non-oil domestic exports surging, the government recently upgraded its GDP growth forecast to between 4.5% and 5.5%.

Singapore accounts for roughly 10% of global chip production and 20% of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Beyond the concerns over AI, macro risks from Middle East conflict appear to have eased as fuel stockpiles and alternative supplies help contain energy costs.

“I think the situation now is one where we are prepared not so much for a sudden and severe dislocation,” Wong said of the energy risks stemming from volatility around the Strait of Hormuz. “I think that risk has come down.”