Sea & OpenAI Partner to Boost AI Access in Southeast Asia

Sea Limited has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with OpenAI to research the adoption of artificial intelligence in commerce, payments, and distribution, focusing on consumers and small-scale businesses in Southeast Asia. The collaboration is strategic in enhancing regional access to sophisticated AI platforms by combining OpenAI technology with Sea's strong digital platforms.

As its first activity under this partnership, Shopee, Sea's digital commerce platform, will provide three months of free access to ChatGPT Plus to its VIP members across Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. To be rolled out starting August 8 in conjunction with Shopee's 8.8 Sales Campaign, the perk includes quicker response time and early access to new AI capabilities like ChatGPT Agent. Roll-out to other markets is in the offing in the near term.

Key Highlights:

• Sea and OpenAI to boost AI access for Southeast Asian SMEs
• Shopee to offer free ChatGPT Plus to VIP users in 3 nations
• Partnership explores AI use in commerce, payments, and ops

This comes after Sea's February 2025 launch of Operator, a platform that allows users to create AI-powered agents, marking the company's interest in AI-based innovation.

"AI is among the greatest technological advances in human history and will reshape the ways people interact, learn, and trade in more considerate and intuitive means. Our intensified collaboration with OpenAI reflects our mission to remain at the vanguard of innovation while serving to enable the communities we serve." stated Forrest Li, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sea.

Also Read: Southeast Asia Is the Next Global Manufacturing Hotspot - What You Need to Know

Oliver Jay, Managing Director of International  of OpenAI said, "Asia's digital population and high mobile penetration combined with its young, tech-savvy population make Asia one of the most rapidly growing markets for AI adoption. We're excited to assist Sea in arming business with more intelligent tools to run operations and interact with customers.”