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Grab Thailand and OpenAI launched GO Forward with AI on October 14, 2026, a GrabAcademy partnership designed to teach more than 3,000 Thai drivers, delivery riders and merchants how to use ChatGPT in practical, work-related situations. The program is Thailand’s first rollout of a wider two-year effort targeting 30,000 Grab partners across Southeast Asia.
What Grab’s GO Forward with AI initiative is
GO Forward with AI is an in-person AI-skilling program delivered through GrabAcademy. Rather than offering access to a chatbot alone, the partnership focuses on guided training for people who run restaurants and other merchant businesses, drive passengers, or make deliveries on Grab’s platform.
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The Thai launch is part of a regional program that began in Singapore. Grab and OpenAI plan to expand the training to Indonesia and the Philippines during 2026, followed by Malaysia and Vietnam in 2027. Across the two-year program, OpenAI says the target is 30,000 driver, delivery and merchant partners.
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Who will receive training in Thailand
Grab Thailand says the local rollout is intended for more than 3,000 participants. The audience includes three groups:
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- Grab drivers
- Delivery riders
- Merchants, including restaurant operators
The announcement does not state a public schedule for individual Thai workshops, an application process, or how the 3,000-plus places will be allocated among those groups.
What the two Thai courses teach
Grab lists two core modules under its “Level Up Your Skills” theme. Each is aimed at a different type of platform partner.
| Module | Audience | Topics covered |
|---|---|---|
| Grow Your Business with ChatGPT: Attract, Engage & Retain Your Customers | Merchants and restaurant operators | Customer insights, visual branding, social content, review analysis and customer loyalty |
| Grow Your Earnings with AI: Smarter Shifts, Better Service & New Opportunities | Drivers and delivery riders | Productivity, customer service, real-time translation, financial budgeting, marketing, personal branding and supplemental-income ideas |
Merchant training
The merchant module treats ChatGPT as a support tool for understanding customers and improving communications. Its subjects range from analyzing reviews and creating social-media content to developing visual branding and loyalty ideas. The stated emphasis is business growth and retention, not simply generating text.
Driver and rider training
The driver-and-rider module combines day-to-day productivity with longer-term earning opportunities. It covers customer interactions, translation during service, budgeting, marketing and personal branding, along with ways to explore additional income. These topics are framed around making shifts and service more efficient while helping partners identify new opportunities.
How the workshops will be delivered
The regional model uses half-day, in-person workshops based on the OpenAI Academy curriculum. Grab says the material will be adapted to local needs rather than delivered as an unchanged global course.
Grab also plans to train GrabAcademy trainers. That train-the-trainer approach is intended to let more instructors teach partners over time, increasing coverage beyond the initial sessions. The announcement does not publish a separate online version, a certification, or a test requirement for participants.
How this fits Grab’s existing AI tools in Thailand
The training arrives after substantial adoption of AI assistants within Grab’s Thai platform. Grab reports that more than 275,000 Thai merchants were using its GrabMerchant AI Assistant, introduced in 2025.
Grab also reports that 120,000 Thai drivers had adopted its Driver AI Assistant after the tool’s official launch in September 2026. Grab describes that assistant as developed with OpenAI technology. Those figures are usage claims from Grab; they are not reported enrollment numbers for GO Forward with AI.
The company previously announced a strategic collaboration with OpenAI on May 30, 2024. That agreement covered AI solutions for Grab users, partners and employees and included an initial ChatGPT Enterprise pilot for Grab employees. In April 2025, Grab described merchant and driver AI-assistant solutions developed with OpenAI and Anthropic.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the initiative matters for platform workers and merchants
Many small businesses and independent workers encounter AI through a specific task—writing a promotion, translating a message, planning a budget or interpreting customer feedback—rather than through formal technical training. GO Forward with AI is designed around those tasks and provides live instruction instead of leaving partners to learn by trial and error.
OpenAI Asia Pacific Managing Director Kiran Mani said that access to AI alone is insufficient as capabilities advance. Grab Thailand Country Head Chantsuda Thananitayaudom said the company’s “AI-First with Heart” approach emphasizes operational efficiency while continuing to empower merchants and drivers.
Regional expansion timeline
| Market | Timing stated in the announcement |
|---|---|
| Singapore | Program began |
| Thailand | Launched October 14, 2026 |
| Indonesia | Expansion planned during 2026 |
| Philippines | Expansion planned during 2026 |
| Malaysia | Expansion scheduled for 2027 |
| Vietnam | Expansion scheduled for 2027 |
What is not yet public
Grab and OpenAI have announced the participant targets, course subjects and delivery model, but not public outcome measurements such as income changes, sales growth, completion rates or productivity gains. They also have not announced a public enrollment or referral mechanism. Partners who want to participate will need to rely on communications from Grab or GrabAcademy for local schedules and eligibility details.
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