Rio Tinto has deepened its push into artificial intelligence with a two-year memorandum of understanding with AI Singapore, a move that aims to tackle supply-chain bottlenecks and build local digital expertise in the process.

The agreement, facilitated by Enterprise Singapore, will see the mining group and the national AI programme work together on practical tools for operational problems, beginning with freight invoice processing. Rio Tinto said it handles more than 10,000 freight invoices a year, a workflow that relies on checking multiple data sources and is still largely manual. The company expects the project to improve validation, reduce errors and shorten processing times.

The partnership also has a talent-development element. AI Singapore will give emerging practitioners access to industry problems and hands-on experience, while Rio Tinto will contribute operational data and supply-chain knowledge. Laurence Liew, AI innovation director at AI Singapore, said the initiative would help translate theoretical skills into applied learning and support broader adoption of AI in mining and other industrial sectors.

Will Millsteed, Rio Tinto’s Commercial CFO, said the company views AI as a practical response to modern operating challenges, adding that the collaboration is intended to strengthen Rio Tinto’s ability to solve supply-chain problems and improve performance across its business. Enterprise Singapore’s Lee Pak Sing said the deal builds on Singapore’s role as Rio Tinto’s Asian commercial and shipping hub and could help position the city-state as a centre where commodity companies deploy AI to reshape their operations.

The agreement also reflects a wider trend in the resources sector, where mining companies are increasingly using Singapore as a base for digital innovation. BHP opened an AI centre in the city-state in 2025, while Rio Tinto itself has also been backing technology development through a separate mining tech accelerator with Founders Factory, which recently added six startups focused on exploration, processing and critical mineral recovery.

AI Singapore was launched under the National Research Foundation to strengthen the country’s AI capability by bringing together universities, research institutes and industry. For Rio Tinto, the collaboration offers a way to combine that technical ecosystem with its own commercial data, while testing whether AI can deliver quicker, more reliable decisions in one of the more routine but consequential parts of its global supply chain.

Source: Noah Wire Services