Prosus N : expands its suite of generative AI applications across its global portfolio by building with OpenAI technology

Prosus expands its suite of generative AI applications across its global portfolio by building with OpenAI technology

• New generative AI-based solutions leverage Prosus's more than five years of work to develop an AI-first capability and culture.
• Access to OpenAI's technologies, such as GPT-4 and other foundational models, has enabled Prosus's portfolio of companies in more than 100 countries to deploy best-in-class capabilities and innovate faster.
• The Prosus AI Lab, an industry-leading applied AI centre, systematically shares best practices and accelerates experimentation of emerging technologies, providing a unique asset for the companies we invest in.
• The Prosus AI Lab connects a global community of over 800 AI practitioners across our global portfolio of over 80 companies.

Amsterdam- 6 June 2023 - Prosus today announces an expanded range of new solutions based on generative AI across its portfolio. These solutions have been developed using OpenAI technology from the research and deployment company behind ChatGPT and DALL·E and build on over five years of work at Prosus to develop an AI-first capability and culture. The Prosus AI Lab was founded in 2018 and has become a unique capability that puts Prosus at the forefront of leveraging these transformative technologies that will impact every business and every consumer.

Prosus leverages its learnings and expertise at scale to embed AI and generative AI technologies across its Food Delivery, Payments & Fintech, Classifieds and Edtech portfolio of companies, operating across more than 100 countries. This capability is a tangible asset for any start-up entrepreneur working with Prosus, helping them scale small data teams and access world-class expertise, solutions, models and tools previously only available to the biggest technology companies.

"Our unique portfolio of more than 80 consumer internet businesses across multiple sectors and geographies excites us to build on technologies from research labs like OpenAI. Five years ago, we launched a forward-leaning strategy to put AI at the heart of our group strategy. We now have hundreds of examples that drive real business impact," said Euro Beinat, Global Head of AI and Data Science at Prosus and Naspers.

Prosus uses state-of-the-art AI science and technology to accelerate innovation and business results. This is based on a programme of large-scale experimentation that validates, controls and accelerates value creation through Generative AI. Access to technology from OpenAI and other labs, as well as models, developed in-house, has been instrumental to fast-track success within Prosus's consumer internet portfolio.

Ensuring that ethical, social and legal considerations are part of AI development is crucial to preserving the quality and longevity of AI products and in their performance. The Prosus approach to AI ethics, developed through collaboration between its AI, data privacy, security and sustainability teams, tracks the social and ethical dimensions of AI important to business and consumer trust. Acceptable use guidelines, privacy and security by design, alongside close monitoring of regulatory and legal requirements, including emerging developments in IP, data protection and contract law, are all part of the Prosus toolkit to keep pace with accelerating changes in the field.

Use cases of generative AI

The investments made into AI ensure Prosus provides intelligence and access to tens of thousands of employees across the Prosus technology portfolio, enabling growth, further disruption and improved productivity. Early access to a range of generative AI models has led to better optimisation of generic business problems - from writing content for our consumer applications to supporting developers' workflow to summarisation for meeting automation - as well as a wide range of improved customer services and product launches, including:

Brainly:

Brainly's new AI features, developed using OpenAI's GPT-4, use AI to allow students to 'Simplify' and 'Expand' answers they receive. Guided by thefriendly mascot 'Ginny', users boost their understanding of key terms and texts with a more personalised learning experience catering to their needs.

Brainly CTO, Bill Salak:

"Brainly puts the student in control of how they get their questions answered.We will give our learners the option of going deeper in the subject to understand further the topic they are struggling with or request a simplified explanation. We're using the latest AI technology to create a more personalised learning experience for learners around the world; unlike searching for information in a search engine, where what you get is what you get."

GoodHabitz:

GoodHabitz is introducing three GPT-powered features for learners to engage with their 'Personal Learning Assistant', take advantage of 'Quiz Time', an interactive test that identifies knowledge gaps, or participate in a new learning activity, 'Drive to Sell', which is a simulated role-playing exercise to improve communication. These features enhance the learning experience, making it more interactive and engaging for users.

GoodHabitz CEO, Maarten Franken:

"As experts in the field of learning and development, we understand that people's learning preferences have evolved significantly in recent years, and we must stay ahead of the curve to meet their needs. Soft skills reign prevalent with a focus on authenticity and out-of-the-box thinking. Effective, engaging and relevant training is required to meet this new demand. AI-powered features are an exciting contribution to the GoodHabitz solution, offering an entirely new level of learning that was not possible before. By using ChatGPT API, we will continue to live up to our promise of delivering the most impactful learning content for our students, boosting engagement and interactivity through generative AI. We believe that innovation and technology hold the key to the future of learning."

iFood:

iFood leverages ChatGPT's capabilities to provide a personalised, efficient and reliable service to customers. Its AI-powered features, Garçom and Bot Site Mercado, offer consumers a fast, easy and fun way to order food and groceries online through a helpful chat interface. For partners, iFood Garçom and Bot Site Mercado offers a new channel to reach more customers and increase sales.

iFood CEO, Fabricio Bloisi:
"We see AI as essential in transforming people's lives, especially when considering the food chain. It will no longer be a matter of ordering a meal instead of preparing it; we believe it will mean having a virtual assistant capable of knowing what you need to eat, when you need to eat it, how you will receive the food, and at the lowest cost. At iFood, we dream of a 100% personalised app for each of our 50 million customers to improve their nutrition and everyday lives."

Sololearn:

Sololearn's new groundbreaking feature 'Kodie' provides support to users throughout their entire learning experience, offering instant,clearanswers to any code-related questions, course recommendations, additional theory, more use cases for given functions, and motivation to overcome any obstacles encountered during the learning process.

Sololearn CEO, Yeva Hyusyan:

"With AI on our side, everyone can code. We started Sololearn with the strong belief that coding is for everyone and that all professions will need to code to reach new heights in their fields. Sololearn is passionate about revolutionising the way people learn to code with the help of AI. Our mission is to make accessible, high-quality learning resources available to everyone, everywhere, and at any time. OurAI-powered featureswill ensure that our users achieve their learning goals and we are thrilled to continue to educate the world on how to use this newest technology and leverage the power of code to unlock human creativity."

ENDS

Notes to editors

Additional information on Prosus portfolio companies and Generative AI use cases

Brainly:

Brainly is a leading learning platform worldwide with the most extensive knowledge base for all school subjects and grades. Hundreds of millions of students, parents and educators rely on Brainly as the proven platform to accelerate understanding and learning. Brainly is at the forefront of AI-powered learning experiences and has been working with the technology developed by OpenAI since Q3 2022. Brainly's new AI-powered features, developed using OpenAI's GPT-4, enhance the learning experience by allowing students to simplify and expand the answers they receive to provide students with more comprehensive answers, which include the explanation and reasoning behind the solution. Guided by a friendly mascot "Ginny", users boost their understanding of key terms and texts with a more personalised learning experience for their needs. This helps students to understand the concepts more effectively and creates a more engaging and interactive learning process.

GoodHabitz:

GoodHabitz offers an effective and engaging online learning library that inspires people, teams, and organisations to develop themselves continuously. With ChatGPT-powered features, GoodHabitz now introduces a brand-new learning experience for learners. Users can engage with their 'Personal Learning Assistant', an AI course expert designed to enrich course content and enhance the employee's learning journey. 'Quiz Time' is an interactive test that identifies knowledge gaps, and the new learning activity, 'Drive to Sell', is a simulated role-playing exercise to improve communication with diverse personality types. GoodHabitz aims to improve learning outcomes, increase knowledge retention and transfer, reduce training time and resources, and promote continuous learning and development. Integrating the ChatGPT API into GoodHabitz's platform offers various benefits to modern employees and companies that want to adapt to the changing landscape of the tech-driven future and meet its demands.

iFood:

iFood, a leading food delivery platform in Brazil, has launched two new ChatGPT-powered features to enhance the user and partner experience on their platform. Garçom is an AI-powered chat interface that helps consumers discover and order dishes from nearby restaurants, providing more personalised and relevant recommendations based on the individual's preferences and queries. The Bot Site Mercado is an end-to-end application that drives the entire grocery purchasing journey via WhatsApp, connecting local grocery stores with their customers through an integrated white-label solution powered by ChatGPT technology. This feature streamlines the process, from initial conversation to order-taking and sales management. It allows consumers to browse through categories of products and provides available options and prices, making creating and editing shopping lists easier than ever.

Sololearn:

Sololearnis a vibrant global community of millions of coders in over 190 countries who learn, practice, and compete with each other in a supportive and engaging environment. Leveraging the power of technology and AI, Sololearn is continuously pushing the boundaries of learning and paving the way for a more innovative and inclusive future. Sololearn's newest groundbreaking feature, 'Kodie', provides 24/7 support, guidance, and encouragement to users throughout their entire learning experience. Kodie is the latest in a series ofAI-powered enhancementsSololearn has developed, including a coding help feature, providing users with simple explanations in human language to ensure that beginners don't get stuck and give up easily, and the use of AI to generate lessons, quizzes, and code projects as part of the core learning curriculum for a highly tailored and customised learning experience. Sololearn's AI-driven features will help ensure that each user's learning journey is personalised to easily adapt to the evolving tech landscape and achieve their professional and personal goals.

About Prosus:

Prosus is a global consumer internet group and one of the largest technology investors in the world. Operating and investing globally in markets with long-term growth potential, Prosus builds leading consumer internet companies that empower people and enrich communities.

The group is focused on building meaningful businesses in the online classifieds, food delivery, payments and fintech, and education technology sectors in markets including India and Brazil. Through its ventures team, Prosus invests in areas including health, logistics, blockchain, and social commerce. Prosus actively seeks new opportunities to partner with exceptional entrepreneurs who are using technology to improve people's everyday lives. Every day, billions of customers use the products and services of companies that Prosus has invested in, acquired or built. Hundreds of millions of people have made the platforms of Prosus's associates a part of their daily lives.

For listed companies where we have an interest, please see: Tencent, Meituan,Delivery Hero, Remitly, Trip.com, Udemy, Skillsoft, and SimilarWeb. Today, Prosus companies and associates help improve the lives of more than two billion people around the world.

Prosus has a primary listing on Euronext Amsterdam (AEX:PRX) and secondary listings on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (XJSE:PRX) and a2X Markets (PRX.AJ). Prosus is majority-owned by Naspers.