Grab to set aside $150m to enhance AI capabilities

Singapore-based Grab is looking to set aside US$150 million for AI research as it ramps up expansion into food delivery, digital payments, and digital content, Bloomberg reported.

Photo credit: Grab

The ride-hailing giant’s AI plans will build on its US$100 million initial allocation for the technology and are aimed at improving its fraud prevention and natural language processing tech, Grab co-founder Hooi Ling Tan said in an interview with Bloomberg.

Grab is working with Microsoft, which entered into a strategic partnership with the company last year, to further develop its NLP capabilities.

The additional AI investment is the latest move by Grab to leverage its vast amount of data and grow its user base to improve its services.

The announcement came on the back of a heated race with Indonesian unicorn Gojek in becoming a super app.

Gojek, also in an interview with Bloomberg, said it’s on track to raise up to US$2.5 billion this year as it looks to continue expanding into mobile payments and food delivery.

Last year, Grab announced a US$1 billion injection from Toyota, which is leading its ongoing series H funding round. More recently, it revealed its US$2 billion commitment for Indonesia’s digital infrastructure with Japan’s SoftBank.

Tan also said that the company is on track to meet forecasts of US$2 billion in revenue this year.