Southeast Asia is hungry for AI — and the money isn't just in subscriptions

Southeast Asia is embracing artificial intelligence at a rapid pace. But the business of making money from AI is about more than getting consumers to pay for it. Generative AI adoption in the region has reached around 243 million people in less than three years, according to the annual e-Conomy SEA report released Wednesday by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company. That is equivalent to 58% of the working population, with adoption occurring four times faster than the uptake of mobile internet. Yet only 1% to 2% of the region's population pays for personal AI subscriptions, highlighting a gap between widespread adoption and direct consumer spending.