Singapore – Sea Limited has announced the establishment of an Artificial Intelligence Centre of Excellence (AI CoE) in Singapore, aimed at accelerating the company’s development of AI-driven technologies and strengthening its capabilities as it moves toward becoming an AI-native organization.
The initiative is supported by Digital Industry Singapore (DISG), a joint office formed by the Singapore Economic Development Board, Enterprise Singapore, and the Infocomm Media Development Authority.
According to the company, the new AI CoE will focus on advancing foundational AI research, scaling the deployment of AI-powered solutions, and cultivating a pipeline of AI-native talent. The centre will also explore new operating models enabled by artificial intelligence as part of Sea’s broader technology-first approach to innovation.
Over the next three years, the initiative is expected to generate demand for at least 100 research and development and innovation-focused roles in Singapore. These positions will span AI research, engineering, and product development, contributing to the expansion of the country’s AI ecosystem.
A key component of the centre’s work will involve advancing Sea’s proprietary AI technologies. Among these is Compass Max v3.5, a 245-billion-parameter large language model designed for Southeast Asian languages and e-commerce applications. The model and its variants are already being used across the company’s e-commerce platform, Shopee, powering several AI-driven features aimed at improving responsiveness and operational efficiency.
The company said the centre will also develop evaluation frameworks, internal tooling, and other capabilities to support the sustainable deployment of AI solutions at scale, aligning research efforts with real-world business applications.
“As AI continues to evolve, we see it as a foundational capability that strengthens how we build innovative products, operate at a global scale, and create value for the countless communities we serve,” said Forrest Li, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sea. “This AI Centre of Excellence reflects Sea’s long-term commitment to investing in talent and innovation in Singapore. Such homegrown AI capabilities also contribute to the wider AI ecosystem in Singapore, which we are excited to partner with the government on growing and developing.”
The initiative also supports Singapore’s broader ambitions to strengthen its AI capabilities. The government-backed collaboration aligns with the country’s National AI Strategy 2.0 and priorities outlined in Singapore Budget 2026.
“This investment by Sea strengthens our position as a global AI hub with cutting-edge capabilities in Singapore. The new AI CoE will create new innovation roles in areas such as AI engineering and product development, providing Singaporeans an opportunity to create AI products with a global reach. We look forward to the cutting-edge work that will emerge from Sea’s Centre of Excellence in Singapore.” said Philbert Gomez, Senior Vice President, Executive Director and Head, Digital Industry Singapore.
