Supporting Thailand’s next generation of AI startups
OpenAI and Thailand’s Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI) launched an eight‑week accelerator for ten Thai startups in health, wellness, and education. The program provides $2,000 in API credits, OpenAI mentors, and access to frontier models to help turn AI prototypes into trusted products. Participating companies include CARIVA, Curico, Wello Food, and others, aiming to demonstrate working solutions by a November Demo Day in Bangkok.
The Core Development
Today in Bangkok, OpenAI and Thailand’s Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI) announced a new accelerator to help Thai startups turn promising prototypes into products ready for real-world use and growth.
The OpenAI x MHESI AI Accelerator brings together ten startups working across health, wellness, and education. It marks OpenAI’s first public-private partnership with the Thai government focused on supporting local startups, and is being delivered with partners including the National Innovation Agency (NIA), Mahidol University, and Techsauce.
A compelling AI demonstration is only the beginning. Building a product that people can rely on is much harder. It takes careful testing, feedback from real users, strong safeguards, and a business model that can support the product as it grows. That work matters even more in healthcare and education, where the stakes are high and reliability is essential.
Strategic Perspective & Ecosystem Impact
Over eight weeks, participating founders will work with mentors from OpenAI and across Thailand’s technology, research, and startup communities to bridge the gap between prototype and deployment.
Thailand combines strong technical talent with deep expertise in fields such as healthcare and education, supported by a fast-growing community of AI builders.
Our internal data shows that Thailand ranks among the top 20 countries globally for ChatGPT weekly active users. Since the start of 2026, weekly active usage of Codex in Thailand has grown more than 350-fold, also placing the country among the top 20 globally for Codex usage. This momentum reflects how people across Thailand are increasingly using AI to write software, develop products, and get meaningful work done. The next step is to help more of those ideas move beyond early prototypes and become products people can use and trust.
Why it matters
This public‑private initiative demonstrates how OpenAI can collaborate with a national government to nurture local AI talent and expand trusted AI applications in critical sectors like healthcare and education.