Agnes AI, a Singapore-developed artificial intelligence agent, has achieved a significant milestone by surpassing 2 million registered users globally within just four months of its launch in July 2025. The AI tool, which boasts approximately 150,000 daily active users, has gained substantial traction in Southeast Asia, with half of its user base originating from the region. It consistently ranks among the top 10 productivity tools on Google Play in countries such as the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
Founded by Bruce Yang, Agnes AI is an all-in-one assistant that integrates search, research, slide generation, design tools, and shared workspaces, allowing users to seamlessly transition from research to presentation without switching applications. The AI operates on a proprietary technology stack, aligning with Singapore’s vision for a sovereign AI infrastructure.
The core team, comprising academic and engineering experts, includes Evan Pu, a Professor of Computer Science at Nanyang Technological University, Xiaofan Li, an Assistant Professor at the National University of Singapore, and Linus Lee, a Singaporean AI researcher. Together, they have developed the Agnes-R1 model, a seven-billion-parameter system that excels in search, research, and presentation tasks. It has demonstrated superior performance, with faster reasoning and lower costs compared to similar models.
Yang emphasised the importance of local control over AI technology, stating, “Singapore is investing to build AI that we can understand, control, and trust.” Looking forward, Agnes AI plans to expand its capabilities by training a larger model in collaboration with local universities and integrating with regional technology providers. This initiative aims to embed the AI’s functionalities within educational and workplace environments across Southeast Asia.
