Sea Opens AI Centre

Sea Limited said on April 20 it will set up an artificial intelligence Centre of Excellence in Singapore, adding a dedicated hub for AI research, engineering and product development. (businesstimes.com.sg) The company said the centre will create at least 100 research-and-development and innovation roles in Singapore over the next three years. Singapore’s Economic Development Board said the effort is backed by Digital Industry Singapore, a joint office of the Economic Development Board, Enterprise Singapore and the Infocomm Media Development Authority. (edb.gov.sg) Sea said the new unit will work on both AI research and business use, including foundation models, evaluation frameworks and tools that can be deployed across its products. The company said the move is part of its push to become an “AI-native” business. (businesstimes.com.sg) That structure reflects how large companies are handling a shortage of advanced AI talent: they are pulling researchers, engineers and product teams into one group, then feeding tools and models back into operating units. Singapore’s Economic Development Board said Sea’s centre is meant to strengthen the company’s proprietary technology stack while building local AI talent. (edb.gov.sg) Singapore has been leaning into that model. Smart Nation Singapore says the country’s National AI Strategy 2.0, launched in 2023, is aimed at expanding AI development, adoption and talent, and Budget 2026 added new state support for AI missions, enterprise adoption and research capacity. (smartnation.gov.sg) (straitstimes.com) Other companies have opened similar hubs in Singapore over the past year. The Straits Times reported in August 2025 that global technology and industrial firms were setting up AI centres of excellence in the city-state, and the Economic Development Board said this month that GE Aerospace will also establish one there. (straitstimes.com) (edb.gov.sg) For Sea, the bet is that one central AI team can serve three big businesses at once: Garena in gaming, Shopee in e-commerce, and Monee in digital financial services. Sea says those businesses sit on a shared technology base, and in February it expanded an AI partnership with Google to build consumer-facing tools across all three. (sea.com 1) (sea.com 2) The next test is whether Sea can turn that hiring plan into products fast enough to justify a permanent AI hub. The company has now put a number on that effort: at least 100 new roles tied to one centre in Singapore. (businesstimes.com.sg)