• Shopee, the e-commerce arm of Sea Limited (NYSE:SE), is partnering with 37 Partners, co founded by NBA All Star Metta World Peace.
• The collaboration introduces Perpetual Celebrity Commerce, which uses AI driven digital likenesses and multilingual livestream interactions on Shopee.
• The initiative focuses on user engagement and ethical monetization for celebrities across Shopee's Southeast Asia markets.

Sea, through Shopee, is a major player in Southeast Asian online retail, where competition from regional and global platforms remains intense. The tie up with 37 Partners gives Shopee access to AI tools that can support celebrity led content, virtual appearances, and localized livestream formats that matter in markets where social and commerce are tightly linked.

For you as an investor watching NYSE:SE, this move is less about a one off campaign and more about how the platform experiments with new engagement tools. The central question over time is whether AI powered celebrity content can support higher user stickiness, better conversion in livestream commerce, and differentiated experiences that are hard for rivals to copy quickly.

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For Sea, the Perpetual Celebrity Commerce rollout sits neatly alongside its recent push into higher margin areas like advertising and VIP programs. Shopee already leans heavily on livestreaming and social features, so AI-powered celebrity avatars, real time translation, and localized scripts are another way to keep users inside its ecosystem for longer and give brands more ways to spend on promotion. This is particularly relevant as Sea targets around 25% GMV growth for Shopee in 2026 while keeping adjusted EBITDA at least at 2025 levels, after a year where Q4 revenue reached US$6.85b and full year revenue reached US$22.94b. If AI-led celebrity content lifts watch-time, conversion, or ad uptake without a matching rise in subsidies, it could support that balance between growth and profitability that investors have been scrutinizing following recent share price volatility and mixed reactions to guidance.

How This Fits Into The Sea Narrative

• The focus on AI-driven content and celebrity commerce supports the narrative’s view that technology and content investments can strengthen Shopee’s user experience and monetization, especially in social and livestream commerce.
• At the same time, this type of content build-out could require ongoing spending on talent partnerships and tech, which may pressure margins if revenue per user does not keep pace, echoing concerns about sustained investment in Shopee.
• The narrative highlights AI-driven ad tech and logistics, but this specific use of licensed AI likenesses for live commerce is a newer angle on content monetization that may not be fully reflected in existing expectations.

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The Risks and Rewards Investors Should Consider

• ⚠️ Execution risk if AI-powered celebrity content fails to move the needle on Shopee engagement or GMV, while still adding to content and technology costs.
• ⚠️ Competitive pressure from TikTok Shop, Lazada, and Temu, which also lean on creator led commerce and may respond with similar or more aggressive content formats.
• 🎁 Potential for higher margin revenue streams if AI-driven celebrity livestreams support more advertising spend and better conversion without heavy discounting.
• 🎁 Added differentiation for Shopee in Southeast Asia if licensed, multilingual AI likenesses build stronger brand recognition with users and sellers.

What To Watch Going Forward

You may want to watch how quickly Shopee scales PCC style content across markets and categories, and whether management starts to highlight any impact on metrics like ad revenue mix, livestream conversion, or user engagement. Commentary around content spend relative to Shopee’s targeted 25% GMV growth and stable adjusted EBITDA will be important, especially given recent concern over cost trends and margin pressure. Competitive reactions from TikTok, Lazada, and other social commerce players will also help you judge how defensible this format is, and whether AI-driven celebrity experiences become a core part of Sea’s broader engagement and monetization toolkit.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.