Sea and Google will work together to develop and scale AI applications across digital financial services, e-commerce and gaming.

The expanded partnership builds on existing collaborations between the two companies, including the YouTube Shopping Affiliate Program with Shopee and Garena’s Free Fire League on Google Play.

In digital financial services, Sea’s Monee unit will collaborate with Google on the development of the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), an open framework designed to support agent-based payment experiences.

Monee will provide input on the protocol’s design to ensure it is robust and secure for Southeast Asia’s digital financial services landscape.

The companies may later explore piloting agentic payment features across their platforms.

In e-commerce, Shopee and Google plan to explore an AI-driven shopping agent that integrates across both platforms.

The prototype is intended to improve product discovery, user engagement and transaction processes.

In gaming, Garena will assess how Google’s AI tools can enhance player experiences and improve the productivity of game development and operations.

Garena may also participate in selected early access programmes tied to Google’s AI research.

Forrest Li, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sea, said,

“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.”

Sanjay Gupta, President, Google Asia Pacific, said,

“We are pleased to deepen our partnership with Sea, a company that shares our vision for an AI-driven future. 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.”

Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by user23413193 via Freepik