In 2024, Grab did the unthinkable for a Southeast Asian tech giant: It told its entire engineering team to stop shipping – for nine weeks.

No new features, no growth targets. Instead, Grab engineers were instructed to just figure out how to apply generative AI across the business in a way that’s “transformational,” according to Grab president and COO Alex Hungate.

“Nine weeks in our world is a lot,” the executive said at last week’s Asia Economic Summit hosted by Tech in Asia in Jakarta. “It was kind of a crazy thing to do for a company of our scale, with so many [daily] issues to deal with.”

Grab president and COO Alex Hungate (left) onstage at the Asia Economic Summit / Photo credit: Tech in Asia

After first announcing a US$150 million budget for AI research in 2019, Grab launched an AI center of excellence in Singapore in May 2025 – a bid to deliver AI solutions across the region.

At that point, CTO Suthen Thomas said over 1,000 AI models powered the Grab platform. That meant one model per 11 employees.

But to be clear, the super app isn’t building foundational AI models from scratch. Instead, it partners with AI tech giants like OpenAI and Anthropic, launching AI tools for merchants and drivers with them.

Grab can’t afford to sit out the AI race. Innovation is its best shot at defending Southeast Asia, which remains its only stronghold.

AI as the C-suite for small Grab merchants

So far, much of Grab’s AI initiatives revolve around its core ecosystem. 

For instance, it has a driver “copilot” that suggests where to head next, maximizing back-to-back jobs, reducing idle time, and boosting earnings. There’s also a system called “hyper-batching,” which lets drivers pick up and drop off multiple food delivery orders in sequence. 

This isn’t just about squeezing out more efficiency. 

See also: Grab COO breaks down ‘triple pivot’ strategy for profit

Grab’s platform, Hungate said, is built to be counter-cyclical. When the economy dips, the gig worker supply surges. AI keeps the flywheel spinning by matching the supply with enough demand.

These tools help keep prices low for customers without significantly cutting into driver earnings, he added.

Drivers as data collectors

Angkas, the largest motorcycle taxi app in the Philippines, underwent a round of layoffs in June, founder and co-CEO Angeline Tham confirmed to Tech in Asia.

In a statement, she said the company made “some difficult but necessary changes to [its] team structure” and that “these adjustments are part of a broader strategy” to support long-term sustainable growth.

Tham did not confirm how many employees were affected by the move. Data from LinkedIn shows the startup currently has over 600 employees.

Angkas drivers in Metro Manila / Photo credit: Angkas

This is the second time that Angkas cut jobs in the past two years, according to a source. However, Tech in Asia was unable to verify this claim with the company.

It’s unknown which departments were affected by the June layoffs. However, Tham noted in her statement that the startup is “accelerating the use of AI” to improve user experience. “These steps allow us to operate with greater agility and discipline, ensuring we stay ahead in a fast evolving landscape,” she added.

As of the end of 2024, Angkas had at least 27,000 riders.

In recent years, competition has been tough for the bike ride-hailing firm as local player Joyride and Grab-backed Move It entered the space. Both have less than 15,000 riders on their platform.

See also: Angkas shifts gears as Grab vies for PH motorcycle taxi crown

Founded by Tham in 2016, Angkas is considered the pioneer in the Philippines’ motorcycle taxi industry. Over the years, its app has been shut down thrice: twice for regulatory reasons and once due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ever since it began operations, Angkas has lobbied for a law that would legalize its operations. Under the country’s Land Transportation and Traffic Code, private motorcycles cannot be hired as a form of public transportation.

The 19th Congress passed a bill that would have legalized this mode of transportation, but it never got prioritized enough to be signed into law.

Still, Angkas lobbied for the passage of a provisional policy that allowed motorcycle taxis to ply the roads of Metro Manila and other major urban areas in the country. This measure is the sole reason why motorcycle taxis remain operational in the Philippines.

Angkas was still operating at a net loss by the end of 2023, even though revenue grew by 30% to 716.3 million pesos (US$12.7 million) from 501.9 million pesos (US$8.9 million) in 2022.

Which are the startups that are on the path to becoming the next big thing? One way to tell would be when they’ve raised a new round. Using Tech in Asia’s data, we’ve generated this constantly updated list of startups in Thailand who’ve recently raised funding.

The list only includes companies up to the series E stage. Each item in the list includes key details about the funding round.

Seeking more? Search the most comprehensive database of tech companies in Asia or read our research methodology. For more auto-generated lists of rising startups, head here.