OpenAI brought the classroom of AI popularization directly to the streets and alleys of Southeast Asia. This Wednesday, it launched a project in collaboration with Grab, a Singapore-based transportation and food delivery platform, offering an artificial intelligence training program to drivers, merchants, and food delivery riders within the Grab ecosystem, teaching these frontline workers how to truly apply ChatGPT in their daily work.
This initiative covers four markets: Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines, and aims to train about 30,000 professionals over the next two years. For drivers and delivery riders most concerned with real benefits, the entry barrier is very low: participants will receive a free three-month ChatGPT Plus access, during which they can learn practical AI operation skills through courses, rather than just attending a lively lecture.
Grab has never been just an entry point for taxi rides or food orders; it connects millions of drivers, merchants, and delivery personnel, making it one of the largest platforms for flexible employment in this market. By choosing Grab as a partner, OpenAI extends the reach of ChatGPT training to offline groups that traditional tech companies have not reached—those who spend their days behind the wheel, behind a merchant's counter, or on electric scooters. For the first time, these people are systematically brought into the user group of AI. When large models are no longer only for engineers who code and white-collar workers in offices, but also start to teach food delivery riders to plan routes and help small merchants write copy, AI's penetration into the real economy has truly taken root.
