Bernstein analysts are dismissing concerns that artificial intelligence could threaten Sea Limited's dominance in Southeast Asian e-commerce. In a new research note, analyst Venugopal Garre argued that Sea is 'unlikely to be displaced purely by AI,' citing the company's entrenched infrastructure and strategic partnerships with major AI developers.

Sea's 'AI partner, not AI lab' strategy focuses on integrating technology from OpenAI and Google rather than heavy capital expenditure on in-house models. The firm has become 'a key commerce partner for OpenAI's Operator,' giving the AI agent direct access to Shopee for shopping tasks. With Google, Sea is co-developing an 'agentic shopping prototype' for use across Shopee and Google platforms, including agent-managed payments through Shopee's wallet.

Bernstein believes the emerging agentic-AI narrative is largely supply-driven, with AI builders needing to showcase end uses to justify huge investments. The analysts noted that in emerging markets where low-cost labor reduces time pressure, saving a few minutes on shopping offers limited real utility. Sea's full-stack advantage spanning logistics, fulfillment, and licensed fintech would be difficult for new entrants to replicate, making it one of the region's 'natural conduits for agentic AI.'