Daven Tamayo

Pinays lead Southeast Asia in Gemini AI use, says Google

Article (news)

Arthur Fuentes

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1784034043775Christine Chia (Managing Director, Search and Gemini Partnerships APAC) on Gemini_s innovations for SEA.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Christine Chia, Google&#x27;s Managing Director for Search and Gemini Partnerships APAC speaks about Gemini innovations for Southeast Asia. Handout</div>MANILA — The Philippines has emerged as the frontrunner in female adoption of artificial intelligence in Southeast Asia, as Google announced Tuesday that its Gemini app has doubled its user base in the region over the past year.According to Google&#x27;s inaugural Gemini Report: Southeast Asia 2026, the Philippines stands out as the only country in the region where women outpace men in prompting the AI assistant. Filipino professionals are also leveraging the technology for customer service and marketing within the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector at three times the regional average.The rapid growth across Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam is being fueled by a young, mobile-first demographic. Google said Gemini&#x27;s adoption was also fueled by local fluency. &quot;Nearly 70 percent of prompts in the region are submitted in native languages, led by Vietnam (89 percent), Thailand (87 percent), and Indonesia (84 percent), making Gemini the most searched-for AI assistant in these countries,&quot; Google said. Furthermore, testing by AI Singapore’s SEA-HELM evaluation framework officially ranked Gemini as the top-performing large language model (LLM) for Southeast Asian languages overall.“We are so proud to see that Gemini has become the AI of choice for many users across Southeast Asia. What makes this region so remarkable is how naturally it has been woven into daily life,&quot; said Sapna Chadha, Vice President for Southeast Asia and South Asia Frontier at Google. &quot;People aren’t just adapting to Gemini, they are using it on their own terms – in modalities they prefer, in languages they speak, and in contexts unique to their lives,&quot; Chadha added.“AI adoption happens when technology feels native, not translated. In a region as linguistically rich as Southeast Asia, models must understand local context deeply to be used effectively,&quot; noted Dr Leslie Teo, Senior Director of AI Products at AI Singapore.Nearly three in four regional requests originate from mobile devices, with users frequently bypassing keyboards to utilize voice commands, photos, and video uploads.Google is also rolling out an AI agent called Gemini Spark to Southeast Asia. &quot;Spark is a 24/7 personal AI agent designed to proactively manage tasks and help users navigate their digital lives. Deeply integrated with Workspace tools like Gmail, Docs, and Slides, this cloud-based agent works in the background — even when a laptop is closed or a phone is locked,&quot; Google said.

The Philippines has emerged as the frontrunner in female adoption of Gemini AI in Southeast Asia, Google announced.

The Philippines has emerged as the frontrunner in female adoption of Gemini AI in Southeast Asia, Google announced.