{
  "id": 15985233,
  "title": "Southeast Asia is hungry for AI — and the money isn't just in subscriptions",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/22/southeast-asia-is-hungry-for-ai-and-the-money-isnt-just-in",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-22T02:01:48.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "CNBC",
    "slug": "cnbc",
    "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/22/southeasaisa-singapore-bain-temasek-google-.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Rapid AI adoption in Southeast Asia is generating business opportunities that extend beyond paid consumer subscriptions, according to a partner at Bain & Company. A report from Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company, titled e-Conomy SEA 2026, indicates the region is on track to exceed $1 trillion by 2035.\n\nIn the e-commerce sector, Shopee became the first Southeast Asian platform built directly into ChatGPT by June 2026, following a February 2026 partnership with Google regarding “agentic shopping prototypes.” This service is live across Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Meanwhile, Lazada developed its own AI shopping agent, Lazzie, which utilizes Alibaba’s Qwen model and has contributed to increased engagement during major sales events, e27 reports.\n\nA June 2026 study by Checkout.com regarding consumer and merchant readiness found that shoppers are most comfortable delegating grocery shopping (41 per cent) and household supplies (31 per cent) to AI.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "e27",
        "title": "Southeast Asia’s US$1T digital dream slips five years, and AI is the new reason to keep believing",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/southeast-asias-us-1t-digital-dream-slips-five-years-and-ai-is-the",
        "published": "2026-10-21T05:00:18.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "CNBC World",
        "title": "Southeast Asia is hungry for AI — and the money isn't just in subscriptions",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/22/southeast-asia-is-hungry-for-ai-and-the-money-isnt-just-in-15985289",
        "published": "2026-10-22T02:01:48.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}