Brazil's government announced investments of approximately 2.3 billion reais ($444.2 million) to strengthen its artificial intelligence ecosystem, splitting projects between US and Chinese companies in a move that highlights the country's delicate balancing act between the two tech superpowers.

The largest portion — 1.3 billion reais — will fund a supercomputing infrastructure project in Rio de Janeiro developed in partnership with China's Huawei Technologies and iFlytek. The infrastructure will primarily be used to develop large language models for general and sector-specific applications, according to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government.

An additional 1 billion reais will be allocated through a tender for a supercomputer that Brazil expects to rank among the world's 10 most powerful AI processing machines. The machine will be installed in the northeastern state of Rio Grande do Norte, chosen for its energy potential. Government officials indicated they expect Nvidia to win the tender.

"The strategy is not to depend on a single company, technology or country," Lula's administration said in a statement, emphasizing the investments are aimed at strengthening national sovereignty over data.

The investments underscore Brazil's effort to maintain strategic autonomy as it navigates complex relationships with both China — its largest trading partner — and the US, which remains the largest source of foreign direct investment in Latin America's largest economy.

The initiative also includes a partnership with Spain based on the open-source RISC-V architecture to develop semiconductors, plans for a Brazilian cloud-computing service, and the future creation of a national center for algorithmic transparency and trustworthy AI.

Lula, a leftist who has repeatedly stressed the need for strategic autonomy, is running for re-election later this year, adding a political dimension to the technology investments.

Sources