Grab has just unveiled 13 AI-powered experiences at GrabX 2026, its annual product showcase. These upgrades the superapp experience to serve as an intelligent everyday guide for people in Southeast Asia.
“As a product builder, I believe AI should work the hardest for the people who need it most. I’m excited that the products we are launching today at GrabX are like having a smart companion by your side. Whether you’re a consumer who just wants a chatbot to choose your lunch, a merchant who needs to monitor multiple shops remotely, or a driver getting hands-free voice advice — we want the Grab app to be the Everyday Guide that handles the manual tasks, so you can focus on your day.”
Philipp Kandal, Grab Chief Product Officer
GrabX 2026 – 13 AI-Powered Experiences
The 13 products launched at GrabX Everyday Guide for three different uses – Local Life, Effortless Travel, and Business Empowerment.
Among these features are Group Ride and GrabMaps for Consumers for Local Life, Personalized Travel Experience and Discover by Grab for Effortless Travel, and Virtual Store Manager and Cloud Printer for Business Empowerment. We’ll get to these later.
These are powered by the Grab Intelligence Layer, the company’s AI infrastructure built on insights from 20 billion rides and orders. It turns real-world signals, like how rain impacts traffic, into useless features that simplify decisions and automate manual tasks.
Local Life: Smarter Everyday Choices
Grab becomes your Everyday Guide by making getting through the city and life in it easier and reducing the mental load of everyday decisions. These are the newly announced products:
- Group Ride – helps you save up to 40% on your fare, compared to riding alone. Grab’s AI sequences the entire trip intelligently to be most efficient, and each passenger’s fare is calculated based on factors like distance travelled and traffic conditions. A Waiting Room feature will also be introduced soon, allowing everyone in the group to see who’s ready and track the vehicle’s progress in real time
- Grab More – allows you to add another nearby merchant to your order, perfect for days when you can’t quite decide what to get with a partner or friend
- Grab AI Assistant – your personal AI concierge, managing things like group size, preferences, and dietary restrictions. It includes the Grab Shopping Agent that allows you to send a photo, voice note, or typed list, and it builds a ready-to-checkout cart
- GrabMaps for Consumers – GrabMaps helps you decide things like when to leave, how to get there, and what to do when you arrive. Additionally, the Journey Planner integrates with your calendar, predicts your destination, and lets you compare travel options. If you’re driving, it has real-time parking availability, EV charging locations, and public transport schedules. There are also indoor navigation guides to the exact shop or entrance you need. For a more personal touch, you can change the voice by using your own voice or another voice to aid you in directions
- Cash Loan – brings accessible credit to you by using first-party Grab data and AI-powered underwriting. You’ll also be able to select a loan amount, customize a repayment plan that fits your budget, and get a decision in seconds.
Effortless Travel: Move Beyond Borders
Meanwhile, if you’re traveling across Southeast Asia, Grab is expanding its service by delivering a more end-to-end travel experience. These products include:
- Personalized Travel Experience – consolidates all the information and reminders you need in one place – from passport reminders, check-in counter information, travel eSIM, and travel passes
- Grab Stays – book your hotels with Nuitee, the AI-first hotel ecosystem. The feature is built within the Grab app and offers competitive same-day rates with the extra benefit of earning GrabCoin rewards.
- Discover by Grab – this is your guide to eating well, put together by the community.
- GrabPay for Travel – allows you to simply scan participating national QR codes and pay directly with debit or credit cards already saved in your account
Business Empowerment: Tools to Scale on Your Own Terms
The Intelligence Layer is now moving beyond the screen and into the physical world to help Grab’s merchant- and driver-partners.
- Virtual Store Manager – transforms the existing CCTV hardware into a smart operations layer. AI-powered computer vision monitors store hours, hygiene standards, and staffing levels. It also analyzes queue lengths, food traffic, conversion rates, and more
- Cloud Printer – a new small printer that auto-prints orders, and the kitchen staff scans a QR code on the printed ticket to trigger pickup once the food is ready. Additionally, it can close stores by detecting activity for a set time
- Tap to Pay – turns GrabMerchant-enabled smartphones into a contactless payment terminal, requiring no special hardware or a complex setup
- Driver AI Assistant – gives driver-partners a smart companion that guides them on how to drive more efficiently and earn more. Drivers can speak to it, asking for advice on policies or assistance with common tasks.
Early Access Program
GrabX 2026 also marked a milestone for Grab’s Early Access Program, which has grown to 200,000 users since its launch at the first GrabX event last year.
The program allows you to see and test the new features and provide feedback to make new products better.
Grab has also announced a new “shake and share” feature that lets users submit feedback instantly by shaking their phone. To join this, register via the GrabX website.
Among these features that are available in the Philippines are:
- Group Ride
- Grab More
- Grab Shopping Agent
- GrabMaps for Consumers
- Cash Loan
- Discover by Grab
- Driver AI Assistant
Meanwhile, expected to arrive here are:
- Grab AI Assistant – end of year
- GrabPay for Travel – Q2 2026
Ram found his love and appreciation for writing in 2015 having started in the gaming and esports sphere for GG Network. He would then transition to focus more on the world of tech which has also began his journey into learning more about this world. That said though, he still has the mentality of "as long as it works" for his personal gadgets.
