Google's Gemini app has more than doubled its active user base across Southeast Asia over the past year, with Malaysia seeing user numbers double in just a few months. The rapid expansion reflects how younger digital natives are adopting the AI assistant faster than any other Google application in the region, according to Google's first-ever Gemini Report: Southeast Asia 2026.

The growth builds on Gemini's 900 million monthly active users globally, but Southeast Asia stands out as a particularly fertile market. The region's young, tech-savvy population, with nearly 40 percent under 25 years old, has embraced the AI assistant in ways that reveal how language capabilities and mobile-first design can drive adoption.

Why Is Gemini Succeeding So Dramatically in Southeast Asia?

The core reason for Gemini's explosive growth in the region comes down to one critical factor: language. Nearly 70 percent of all prompts submitted to Gemini across Southeast Asia are in native languages rather than English, with Vietnam leading at 89 percent, followed by Thailand at 87 percent and Indonesia at 84 percent. This linguistic fluency matters enormously in a region where English proficiency varies widely.

According to an independent evaluation by AI Singapore, Gemini ranks as the overall best-performing large language model (LLM), a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data, for Southeast Asian languages. This technical superiority translates directly into user preference and engagement.

"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. Gemini's strong standing on our SEA-HELM evaluation framework demonstrates its ability to navigate the complex linguistic realities of the region," stated Dr. Leslie Teo, Senior Director of AI Products at AI Singapore.

Dr. Leslie Teo, Senior Director of AI Products, AI Singapore

Google executives attribute the success to how naturally Gemini has woven itself into daily life across the region. Users are not simply adapting to the technology; they are using it on their own terms, in the modalities they prefer, and in the languages they speak.

How Are Southeast Asians Actually Using Gemini?

The usage patterns reveal a generation that treats AI as an indispensable daily companion rather than a novelty tool. Younger users are the power users, making more requests, engaging in longer conversations, and writing significantly more detailed prompts than other age groups.

The way people interact with Gemini reflects mobile-first behavior and multimodal engagement. Almost three in four requests come from mobile devices, and because users can interact comfortably in their native languages, they are bypassing keyboards entirely. More than 40 percent of prompts use voice commands, photos, or video uploads, while over 10 percent rely on voice alone.

• Creative Generation: About 40 percent of queries ask Gemini to generate entirely new outputs, including images, music, videos, and written documents. Southeast Asians have generated 5 billion images using Nano Banana, Google's image generation model, over the past year, and nearly 1 million songs since the introduction of Lyria 3, Gemini's music generation model.
• Research and Analysis: People frequently rely on Gemini as a research assistant to summarize dense documents and structure messy data, treating it as a thought partner for advice, opinions, and recommendations on topics ranging from birthday gift ideas to travel destinations.
• Real-Time Navigation: Using features like Gemini Live, users navigate the world in real-time, such as translating street signs, troubleshooting home repairs, or analyzing documents on the go.

Malaysia exemplifies this creative adoption pattern. One in five Malaysians have asked Gemini to generate images, representing the highest proportion in Southeast Asia. Since the launch of Nano Banana image generation in August 2025, visual creation has become one of the country's most popular AI use cases.

Interestingly, Malaysians demonstrate bilingual fluency in their AI interactions. While English remains the preferred language for professional and productivity tasks, requests in Malay more than doubled in early 2026 compared to a year earlier. This seamless code-switching between English for work and Malay for creative expression shows how Gemini fits naturally into the country's multilingual culture.

What's Coming Next for Gemini in Southeast Asia?

Google is rolling out new AI agent capabilities designed to transform Gemini from a question-answering assistant into an active partner that completes real work on users' behalf. Gemini Spark, a 24/7 personal AI agent, is designed to proactively manage tasks and help users navigate their digital lives.

Spark is deeply integrated with Google Workspace tools like Gmail, Docs, and Slides, and operates as a cloud-based agent that works in the background even when a laptop is closed or a phone is locked. The feature is currently available in English to Google AI Ultra subscribers, with rollout to all local languages in Southeast Asia beginning this week.

"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. 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," said Sapna Chadha, Vice President for Southeast Asia and South Asia Frontier at Google.

Sapna Chadha, Vice President for Southeast Asia and South Asia Frontier, Google

How to Manage Your Privacy While Using Gemini

As Gemini's adoption accelerates, privacy considerations have become increasingly important. Google collects extensive data from Gemini users, including prompts, shared files, videos, photos, browser pages, transcripts, Gemini Live recordings, and custom instructions. While this data helps personalize responses, users concerned about privacy have several options to limit what Google collects.

• Disable Search Upload Training: Google now uses your search uploads to train its AI models by default. To prevent this, open My Activity settings, choose Search Services History, and uncheck the Save media option. You can also turn Search Services off entirely and set up auto-delete options.
• Turn Off Chat History Storage: To prevent Gemini from training on your conversations, disable Google's history retention by visiting the Gemini Apps Activity page and turning off the Keep activity setting. Note that this also removes previous chats from your history.
• Selectively Delete Conversations: Rather than disabling all history, you can delete specific sensitive chats individually or set up automatic deletion of conversations older than 3 months, 18 months, or 36 months.
• Restrict Gemini Live Recording: By default, Google captures audio recordings of Gemini Live conversations and may send them to human reviewers. You can disable this at the Gemini Apps Activity page by unchecking the "Improve Google services with your audio and Gemini Live recordings" option.
• Disconnect Workspace Apps: Gemini can access your Google Drive, Gmail, Google Calendar, and other Workspace tools. You can revoke this access by going to Settings & help, selecting Personal Intelligence, then Connected Apps, and turning off access to any services you don't want Gemini to use.
• Disable Memory Feature: Gemini's Memory feature learns from your past chats to personalize responses. This is opt-in, but you can verify it's disabled by checking Settings & help, then Personal Intelligence, and ensuring the Memory switch is off.
• Use Temporary Chat Mode: For sensitive or private topics, start a temporary chat that won't appear in your chat history, won't be used to train Gemini, and won't personalize your experience. Temporary chats are retained only for 72 hours.

The privacy trade-offs are real. Turning off history retention means you lose access to previous conversations, which many users find valuable for reference. However, selectively deleting sensitive chats or using temporary mode for private discussions offers a middle ground between privacy and usability.

Google's expansion in Southeast Asia demonstrates how language capabilities and mobile-first design can drive AI adoption in emerging markets. As Gemini continues to roll out new features and agents across the region, the privacy controls available to users will become increasingly important for those concerned about data collection and AI training practices.