Google and Shopee-owner Sea partner to create AI for e-commerce and gaming

• The companies will jointly explore building an 'AI agentic shopping prototype' on Shopee, which holds 52% market share in Southeast Asia's e-commerce market
• The partnership extends to Sea's Garena gaming unit to use AI solutions for transforming game development productivity
• The move reflects broader industry efforts to monetize AI with advanced capabilities like cross-app shopping and workflow management, following similar initiatives by competitors like Alibaba's Lazada

Summary

Partnership Overview:

Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Southeast Asian technology conglomerate Sea Ltd announced a strategic partnership on February 19 to develop artificial intelligence tools for Sea's e-commerce platform Shopee and gaming division Garena.

Key Initiatives:

The collaboration will focus on jointly exploring an "AI agentic shopping prototype" for Shopee, Southeast Asia's dominant e-commerce platform with 52% market share. Additionally, Google and Sea's gaming unit Garena will deploy AI solutions to enhance game development productivity.

Market Context:

The partnership represents global tech firms' broader push to monetize AI models beyond simple question-answering capabilities, expanding into complex task execution including shopping across applications and workflow management. The move follows increased competition in the region, with China's Alibaba—whose Lazada platform competes with Shopee—releasing its own agentic AI solution earlier this week.

Companies Involved:

• Google (Alphabet Inc.): Providing AI technology and infrastructure
• Sea Ltd: Southeast Asian tech conglomerate operating Shopee (e-commerce) and Garena (gaming)
• Competition: Alibaba's Lazada platform

Strategic Significance:

This partnership builds upon an existing collaboration between Shopee and Google's YouTube in the Southeast Asian e-commerce market. The region represents a critical battleground for e-commerce expansion, with Shopee maintaining market leadership. The integration of AI-powered shopping agents could further strengthen Shopee's competitive position while providing Google with valuable real-world applications for its AI technology in high-growth Asian markets.

The announcement signals intensifying competition in AI-driven e-commerce solutions across Southeast Asia's rapidly expanding digital economy.