Sea Limited Establishes AI Centre of Excellence in Singapore to Drive Native Innovation

Sea Limited (NYSE: SE) officially announced the establishment of an Artificial Intelligence Centre of Excellence in Singapore to accelerate its journey toward becoming an AI-native company. Supported by Digital Industry Singapore, a joint office of the EDB, Enterprise Singapore, and IMDA, the hub will focus on proprietary technology and long-term capability building. This initiative represents a significant commitment to the local innovation landscape and Sea's own technology stack.

Over the next three years, the center is expected to create demand for at least 100 specialized roles, including AI researchers, engineers, and product developers. These professionals will be tasked with advancing foundational AI and translating research into scalable, production-ready solutions for global deployment. The center aims to nurture a new pipeline of talent capable of navigating the complex demands of autonomous systems.

A key technological highlight is the continued development of Compass Max v3.5, Sea's internal 245 billion parameter Large Language Model. Tailored specifically for Southeast Asian languages and e-commerce contexts, this model already powers numerous features across the Shopee platform. Sea reports that these in-house models offer greater responsiveness and operate at a fraction of the cost of leading commercial alternatives.

The hub is organized around three strategic pillars: Foundational AI, Scalable Deployment, and AI-Native Operating Models. By focusing on internal tooling and evaluation frameworks, Sea intends to stay at the frontier of AI research while maintaining operational efficiency. This structure allows the company to experiment with new business models enabled by emerging autonomous technologies.

Forrest Li, Chairman and CEO of Sea, emphasized that the AI Centre of Excellence reflects a long-term investment in Singaporean talent. He noted that AI is a foundational capability that strengthens the company's ability to build innovative products and create value for global communities. The project is designed to contribute to the wider AI ecosystem through partnerships with the government.

Government representatives stated that Sea's investment reinforces Singapore's position as a global AI hub. The initiative aligns with the National AI Strategy 2.0 and priorities set in the latest national budget. By creating high-value innovation roles, the center provides a platform for local talent to build AI products with significant regional and global reach. More information can be found via Sea's news archive.