Brazil Plans 2.3-Billion-Real AI Supercomputers in Two Sites

Brazil is investing about 2.3 billion reais (roughly $444 million) in two AI-focused supercomputers, a split aimed at reducing dependence on any single country or technology. About 1.3 billion reais will fund a Rio de Janeiro project developed with Huawei and iFlytek to train large language models, while roughly 1 billion reais will go to a Rio Grande do Norte tender expected to attract Nvidia, targeting one of the world’s top AI machines by late 2027. The plan, financed by the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development, emphasizes data sovereignty and diversified international partnerships to balance ties with the United States and China. Officials say the dual-architecture approach creates insulation and resilience, even as it requires maintaining two separate software stacks and engineering ecosystems. Lula’s government frames the initiative as part of a broader strategy for technological autonomy and national sovereignty over data, alongside other moves like a RISC-V chip partnership and a Brazilian cloud service. While the projects are split between American and Chinese tech firms, Brazil aims to keep options open and avoid over-reliance on any single supplier.