Artificial Intelligence
Grab and OpenAI launched AI skills programme
Grab and OpenAI said they had launched GO Forward with AI, a regional training programme for 30,000 partner workers across Southeast Asia that will begin in Singapore and later expand to three other countries.
- Grab and OpenAI announced GO Forward with AI on 23 September 2026 in Singapore.
- They said the programme would train 30,000 driver-, delivery- and merchant-partners over two years.
- The launch was set to begin in Singapore and then expand to Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines later in the year.
- The article said Driver AI Assistant had already reached close to 500,000 drivers.
- All participants were to receive three months of free access to ChatGPT Plus.
Grab and OpenAI announced GO Forward with AI, a regional partnership under GrabAcademy that was intended to give practical AI training to driver-, delivery- and merchant-partners across Southeast Asia. The companies said the first sessions would take place in Singapore before the programme expanded to Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines later in the year.
The article said the two companies had worked together since May 2024 on applied AI projects, including Driver AI Assistant. It said that tool, which was powered by OpenAI’s models, had reached close to 500,000 drivers.
According to the announcement, the new programme would use in-person masterclasses and a train-the-trainer model to reach more partners over time. It said the curriculum would cover business planning, marketing materials, forecasting, inventory management and other tasks, and would introduce participants to ChatGPT Work.
Grab’s Ong Chin Yin said the programme was meant to make AI more accessible and relevant to the communities the company served. OpenAI’s Oliver Jay said the launch was part of its OpenAI for Singapore commitment, and the company said all participants would receive three months of free ChatGPT Plus.
Named in this story
People
- Suhada Abdullah
- said the workshops helped her explore new ideas and support a family hawker business
- Ong Chin Yin
- Grab’s chief organisational capability officer who said the programme would build confidence
- Manfred Ho
- the founder and chief executive of Genista Lane who described the training as time-saving
- Oliver Jay
- OpenAI’s managing director, international, who said the launch was part of its Singapore commitment
Companies
- Grab
- announced the regional partnership and is running the programme through GrabAcademy
- OpenAI
- partnered with Grab on the skills programme and provided ChatGPT tools
- Genista Lane
- the business run by Manfred Ho
Organisations
- GrabAcademy
- the training arm under which the programme will run
- OpenAI Academy
- provided the curriculum used for the masterclasses
Products and systems
- GO Forward with AI
- the regional AI-skilling programme for Grab partners
- Driver AI Assistant
- Grab’s in-app assistant for drivers that the article said had reached close to 500,000 drivers
- ChatGPT Work
- the ChatGPT feature participants were introduced to for multi-step tasks
- Merchant AI Assistant
- an AI tool already available on Grab’s merchant platform
- ChatGPT Plus
- was to be given free for three months to all participants
Places
- Singapore
- the first launch market for the programme
- Thailand
- one of the later expansion markets
- Indonesia
- one of the later expansion markets
- Philippines
- one of the later expansion markets
How the source tells it
The piece was a promotional company announcement with overt vendor boosterism and optimistic framing, built through claims about reach, confidence and practical benefits.
- vendor boosterism the companies’ own announcement language presented the programme and its benefits as a success case
- optimism the future-facing claims about skills, income and growth framed the partnership as beneficial and expanding