Gemini is gaining a place in the daily lives of millions of people across Southeast Asia. According to Google’s first regional report, the number of active app users doubled in one year, driven by a young population, intensive mobile use, and a better understanding of local languages.
Adoption Led by Young Users
Google analyzed Gemini usage in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The results show that the region is not just trying out artificial intelligence—it is incorporating it into everyday activities such as studying, working, researching, and making decisions.
Younger users are leading this adoption. They write more detailed instructions, maintain longer conversations, and make more requests than other age groups. That is not surprising when you consider that nearly 40% of Southeast Asia’s population is under 25 and has grown up surrounded by digital technology.
AI Works Better When It Speaks Like You
One of the report’s most important findings is that nearly 70% of the requests sent to Gemini in the region are written in native languages. Vietnam leads the list, with 89% of prompts written in its local language, followed by Thailand at 87% and Indonesia at 84%.
Google also states that Gemini achieved the best overall performance among the large language models evaluated for Southeast Asian languages in the SEA-HELM study. Why does this matter? Because a useful AI should not force you to translate your ideas into English before you can use it.
Someone can ask for travel recommendations, help with homework, or a technical explanation in their own language and receive a more natural, relevant response. That level of comfort can make the difference between experimenting with a tool and making it part of your routine.
Mobile and Voice Are Changing How People Interact
Nearly three out of every four requests to Gemini in the region come from mobile devices. In addition, more than 40% of prompts include voice, photos, or videos, while around 10% use voice exclusively through features such as Gemini Live.
This reveals something deeper than a simple technology preference. When AI understands local languages, people can rely less on the keyboard. They can speak to it, show it an image, or record a video to explain what they need.
Imagine checking the status of a repair by showing a damaged part, asking for help interpreting a photographed document, or practicing a conversation in another language while you walk. The interaction stops feeling like a traditional search and starts to resemble an everyday conversation.
Gemini Becomes a Creative Collaborator
Google says that nearly 40% of queries in the region seek to create something new. These uses include generating images, music, videos, and documents.
Over the past year, users in Southeast Asia generated 5 billion images with Nano Banana, Google’s visual generation model. They also created nearly one million songs since Lyria 3, Gemini’s music generation model, arrived in the region.
These figures show that AI is not used only to answer questions. It also helps people explore ideas, prepare materials for a project, develop visual content, or turn a simple instruction into a first creative version.
From Conversational Assistant to Task Agent
Another frequent use of Gemini is research. People use it to summarize lengthy documents, organize messy data, and understand complex information. They also turn to the tool as a thinking partner for recommendations, comparing options, or solving problems step by step.
Google is now preparing a new stage with Gemini Spark. The feature aims to transform Gemini into an artificial intelligence agent capable of completing tasks, rather than simply answering questions.
According to the company, Spark will be integrated with Workspace tools such as Gmail, Docs, and Slides. The idea is for it to work proactively, even when the computer is closed or the phone is locked. After its initial launch in English, Google began rolling it out in local languages for Gemini Advanced and Ultra subscribers.
The challenge is no longer proving that AI can answer, but ensuring that it acts in a useful, safe, and understandable way without taking control away from the person.
Gemini’s expansion in Southeast Asia offers a lesson that applies to any market: adoption grows when technology understands the language, context, and the way people actually live. The future of AI will not be built only with more powerful models, but also with tools that feel familiar and available to more communities.
Original Source
https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/products/gemini-app/gemini-southeast-asia-report-2026