Singapore to Accredit the Firms That Test AI
2 min readSingapore is building a stamp of approval for the companies that check whether AI actually works as promised. The country is rolling out the AI Tester Accreditation Programme, or AI TAP, described as the first scheme of its kind in Asia to formally accredit third-party firms that test AI systems.
What AI TAP Does
Run by the AI Verify Foundation, a not-for-profit subsidiary of the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), AI TAP accredits testing service providers that can technically assess AI systems for safety, reliability, and governance risks. Accredited firms are recognized as having the competence and operational readiness to evaluate AI against a defined scope.
The goal is a trusted, published list of firms that can rigorously test and “red team” AI systems across industries, from healthcare and finance to hiring and public services. Developers, deployers, and the people who ultimately use these systems would then have a clearer basis for trusting that a given tool has been independently checked.
Years in the Making
As GovInsider reports, AI TAP is the next step in an assurance ecosystem Singapore has been assembling since it launched the AI Verify testing toolkit in 2022. Where AI Verify gave organizations a way to test their own models, AI TAP goes further by vouching for the outside firms that do the testing. The programme is slated to launch by the third quarter of 2026.
Why It Matters
As governments worldwide debate how to regulate AI, Singapore is taking a practical, market-friendly route. Rather than writing sweeping new laws, it is building the plumbing that lets independent testing scale. A recognized accreditation reduces the guesswork for a hospital or bank trying to hire a credible auditor, and it gives testing firms a reason to raise their standards.
If the model works, expect other jurisdictions to watch closely. Trustworthy third-party assurance is one of the missing pieces in the global push to deploy AI responsibly, and Singapore is moving early to supply it.