BHP has chosen to establish its first artificial intelligence (AI) hub in Singapore in a bid to increase efficiency and grow its digital capabilities.
Singapore was selected due to its known innovation ecosystem and strong digital infrastructure, both of which align with BHP’s goals to scale technologies that deliver operational value.
The decision was made with support from Enterprise Singapore, a Singaporean Government agency overseeing business growth and economic development, and AI Singapore, a National University of Singapore program.
“We’re excited to partner with Enterprise Singapore and AI Singapore to further unlock the potential of AI,” BHP chief commercial officer Rag Udd said.
“For BHP, this is an opportunity to build capability with industry and government working in sync. Singapore is a clear leader in AI industry partnerships.
“It has the talent and ecosystems to support industry-wide solutions in AI adoption with supportive and active government policy and investment in AI capability. Through this partnership in Singapore, we’re building an approach with real potential to transform how we work.”
Expected to be established in May, the hub will act as the epicentre for AI specialists to lead collaboration between BHP’s teams and local AI partners to solve business problems.
Once founded, the BHP AI specialists will look at further integration of data-driven decisions, intelligence and automation into the company’s core operations.
“As BHP accelerates our digital transformation and grows our internal AI capabilities, we see tremendous opportunity to work with AI Singapore and other global leaders to help deliver solutions to complex, enterprise-wide challenges,” BHP chief technology officer Johan van Jaarsveld said.
“We are excited about the potential of this partnership – and others around the world – to develop practical, innovative solutions that make our operations safer, more productive, and set new standards for our industry.”
BHP is already using AI to boost sustainability, improve procurement processes and enhance financial forecasts.
A total of three billion litres of water and 118 gigawatt-hours of energy have been saved since the 2021–22 financial year via AI-powered plant control at the Escondida copper mine in Chile, the largest copper producer globally.
Escondida also saw BHP and Microsoft collaborate to use AI and machine learning to optimise copper concentrator performance in 2023.
Subscribe to Australian Mining and receive the latest news on product announcements, industry developments, commodities and more.
