Grab's revenue rose 27% and all three core businesses turned profitable together, as the company credits AI tools for helping drivers and merchants earn more.
Grab, the Southeast Asian app that bundles rides, food delivery and financial services, reported a 27% jump in revenue on Tuesday, Nov. 3. For the first time, its three core businesses were all profitable in the same quarter. Executives say AI tools are part of the reason, though they stress that drivers and delivery still do the real work.
CEO Anthony Tan said the results are measurable. Merchants using Grab's AI assistants see about a 20% uplift, he said. Drivers who use the tools earn over 10% more per online hour. The material does not say how those figures were calculated, so treat them as the company's own numbers.
Grab is working with OpenAI to give 30,000 drivers and merchant partners across the region practical AI tools. It is also piloting Meta's Muse AI assistant in Singapore. Customers can build a GrabMart grocery basket inside a chat, then finish checkout in the Grab app.
Tan was clear that software alone does not win. Even if shoppers start using AI agents (programs that place orders for them), every order still has to be delivered. That takes drivers, merchants and logistics, plus licenses Grab says it has built over more than a decade. The company points to over 20 billion transactions on its platform.
Customers who order from both GrabFood and GrabMart now make up 43% of food gross merchandise value, which is the total value of orders. Their average basket is around 10% larger than that of shoppers who use only one service.
Grocery orders are growing 1.8 times faster than prepared food delivery. Grab also launched GrabMall, a branded retail channel that uses fast local delivery.
Grab plans to buy Atome Financial, a Singapore-based buy now, pay later provider. Buy now, pay later lets shoppers split a purchase into smaller payments. Chief Financial Officer Peter Oey told The Wall Street Journal it would be Grab's second largest acquisition on record. It follows a recently thwarted effort to move into Taiwan.
AI tools may help small businesses sell more, but Grab's results show that reliable real-world delivery still decides who wins.
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