Grab Agentic AI deployed, unveils AI Merchant Assistant and AI Driver Companion features

At the inaugural GrabX event in Singapore, Grab expanded its partnership with OpenAI by unveiling new AI features and deploying a new Agentic AI.

Anthony Tan, Grab Group CEO and Co-Founder

Better Grab services with AI?

Leading Southeast Asian super app Grab unveiled agentic AI solutions to help merchants and rivers further unlock their potential on the Grab platform. The AI Merchant Assistant and AI Driver Companion are intelligent solutions that provide valuable, actionable insights to Grab partners and help them with day-to-day tasks. These new features were developed with the latest foundational models from AI research organizations, including OpenAI and Anthropic.

Grab's new AI features are a result of collaboration with OpenAI and Anthropic

This is an expansion of Grab's strategic partnership with OpenAI in May 2024 and a new signed collaboration with Anthropic, the maker of the Claude AI models. 

AI Merchant Assistant Chatbot can aid merchants in increasing sales

AI Merchant Assistant is a chatbot powered by a Large Language Model integrated within the GrabMerchant app, which supposedly provides merchants with tailored insights that should help Merchants handle daily tasks. Its main goal. is to seek to level the playing field by serving as every merchant's 24/7 business advisor. It proactively reaches out to merchants with business suggestions, such as how to improve sales, aside from helping them with the day-to-day. It can also help in creating ad campaigns and updating menus.

See also: Grab launches Family, Food for One, Shared Saver, Advance Booking (Airport Pickup), and more

Grab says that it will soon suggest financing solutions tailored to individual merchants, including lending products from GrabFin and Grab's Digital Banks.

AI-Assisted Voice Reporting Tool supports multiple languages

AI Driver Companion, on the other hand, features two new AI-powered solutions integrated within the Grab Driver app to help drivers be more efficient and productive. The first is the new AI ride-guidance feature, which draws from real-time and historical data to predict where ride demand will be highest. It guides drivers towards those hotspots quicker and more precisely to find jobs faster. By taking the guesswork out of navigation, this feature also allows drivers to stay more attentive on the road. Currently, there are over 250,000 Southeast Asian drivers who have been using these features weekly.

The AI-assisted voice reporting tool enables drivers to update Grab about road conditions in real time. This data is crucial for GrabMaps' accuracy. Previously, Grab drivers manually submitted information about road conditions into the Grab Driver app. This raised safety concerns. This new tool allows drivers to input the data verbally instead. This includes flagging traffic, roadworks, flooding, and more in greater detail and in multiple languages.

Since its pilot rollout, the tool has received over 16,000 reports a day from more than 900,000 drivers across the region. Grab has received a higher volume of more detailed feedback from drivers since its rollout, which has helped in improving the speed at which we are able to update GrabMaps' accuracy. This is massive as the accuracy of GrabMap's aid in driver's productivity and speed.

Scan this QR code to sign up for Grab's new Early Access Programme

Lastly, Grab has introduced its Early Access Programme, which allows users to sign up to access and try the latest products and features from Grab.

Depending on the region, these features may or may not have rolled out yet.

What do you guys think?