Singapore-headquartered tech giant Sea Limited has signed a memorandum of understanding with Google to integrate generative and agentic AI across its ecosystem of gaming, e-commerce, and digital payments in Southeast Asia.
The agreement, which was concluded this month and announced by Sea Limited on Thursday, will see the two companies develop “agentic” AI innovations across Sea’s three-pronged ecosystem of Garena, Shopee, and Monee.
This is not the first time the two tech companies have collaborated for tech solutions in Sea’s platform. In 2024, the YouTube Shopping Affiliate Program was launched in the region with Shopee, while Garena’s Free Fire League was launched on Google Play in 2025.
In 2025, Sea first partnered with OpenAI in February when Shopee tested Operator, an AI agent for autonomous online shopping. The collaboration expanded in August to include payments and distribution, aiming to make AI tools accessible to consumers and small businesses in the region.
“AI is the next big technology revolution, and we believe that it has huge potential to positively transform our business and create value in our markets. This partnership with Google on AI will drive innovation in the business application of the technology at scale, and allow us to make AI more accessible to the digitally underserved in our markets,” Forrest Li, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sea, said in a statement.
In gaming, the firm said Garena will work with Google to use AI tools to improve player experiences and make game development and operations more efficient. Garena may also get early access to Google’s latest AI research projects.
In e-commerce, Shopee and Google are expected to test an AI shopping prototype that connects both platforms, aiming to make product discovery, user interaction, and transactions interlinked.
In digital finance, Monee and Google will collaborate on the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2). Monee will provide feedback to help ensure the protocol is secure and works for Southeast Asia’s digital finance market, with the possibility of piloting it on their platforms later.
In the E-Conomy SEA 2025 report by Google, Temasek, and Bain, the authors noted that orchestrating agentic transactions remains an untapped opportunity in Southeast Asia, with 60% of early adopters reporting more than threefold returns from agentic AI. The study also, however, flagged challenges to regional adoption, including fragmented regulations and varying national data privacy and localisation laws across Southeast Asia.
“By combining Google’s AI leadership with Sea’s innovative ecosystem, we’re building products that don’t just solve today’s challenges but define the future of gaming, commerce, and financial services. And we’re developing these solutions responsibly, with user privacy and safety at the core. Together, we are accelerating the adoption of this transformative technology and unlocking the immense economic potential of Southeast Asia’s digital landscape,” Sanjay Gupta, President of Google Asia Pacific, said.
