Brazil Starts a Drive for AI Supercomputers and Divides Projects Between US And Chinese Companies

In an attempt to manage relations with both superpowers, Brazil’s government announced on Thursday investments of almost 2.3 billion reais ($444.2 million) to strengthen its artificial intelligence ecosystem, dividing projects between American and Chinese firms.

A supercomputing infrastructure project in Rio de Janeiro created in collaboration with China’s Huawei Technologies and iFlytek (002230.SZ) would receive little over half of the amount, or 1.3 billion reais, opens a new tab.

According to the administration of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the infrastructure would be utilized mostly to create big language models for both general and sector-specific applications.

Separately, a contest for a supercomputer that Brazil anticipates would be among the top ten AI processing machines in the world will get roughly 1 billion reais.

Rio Grande do Norte, a state in the northeast, was selected for the machine’s installation due to its potential for energy. On Thursday, Lula was present for a state announcement event.

Speaking under condition of anonymity, government representatives stated that they anticipate U.S. chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA.O) opening a new tab to win the tender. Last week, Luciana Santos, the minister of science and technology, told the daily Folha de S. Paulo that she expected the business to be the provider.

Lula’s administration stated in a statement that the investments are intended to reinforce national sovereignty over data and that the plan is not to rely on a single enterprise, technology, or nation.

China, a major force in artificial intelligence, has grown to be Brazil’s biggest commercial partner. Despite losing market share in trade and lately enacting more tariffs on Brazilian goods, the United States continues to be the greatest source of foreign direct investment in the largest economy in Latin America.

The National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FNDCT) will finance the investments in a staggered manner. The cooperation deal with the Chinese enterprises is set to begin in July 2027, and the government anticipates that the supercomputer will start up by the end of next year.