Brazil invests $444M to enhance AI ecosystem and supercomputing

Brazil just committed 2.3 billion reais, roughly $444.2 million, to building out its artificial intelligence infrastructure. The investment, announced on August 20, covers two massive supercomputing projects and signals President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s intention to turn the country into a serious player in the global AI race. The funding comes from the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FNDCT) and will be distributed across facilities in two states: Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Norte. Two projects, two continents of tech partners The bigger slice, 1.3 billion reais, is heading to a supercomputing infrastructure project in Rio de Janeiro. That initiative is being developed in partnership with Chinese firms Huawei Technologies and iFlytek, with a focus on training and developing large language models. The agreement is set to kick off in July 2027. The second project, a competitive tender worth approximately 1 billion reais, will land in Rio Grande do Norte. Its goal is to acquire a supercomputer capable of ranking among the world’s top 10 in AI processing power. Nvidia, the US chipmaker, is considered the frontrunner for that contract. Operations at ...