By Kariny Leal, Valor — Rio
Rio wants to become the capital of artificial intelligence and has been working to provide the best possible environment for this, according to the city’s Secretary of Economic Development, Osmar Lima. Speaking at the launch of the AI Cities Summit Latam, the Latin American edition of a global series aimed at fostering discussions on the topic, the secretary highlighted the benefits for stakeholders interested in developing the sector in the city.
“Everyone is welcome in Rio. We have Chinese banks, we have American investment, and we welcome people of all nationalities. Brazil is in a unique position in its relations with different countries,” Lima said. “We have clean energy, we have space, and we have the capacity to foster this industry,” the secretary added.
The AI Cities Summit, which will take place in Rio in May 2027, aims to bring together governments and market participants to plan, license, and finance the digital infrastructure needed to develop the artificial intelligence sector. The event will bring together policymakers, regulators, energy providers, data center operators, technology suppliers, capital providers, and infrastructure developers.
The Rio city government has been strengthening its strategy to position the city in the digital economy. This includes the Rio AI City infrastructure platform, a partnership with Elea Data Centers to transform the Olympic Park area, in the southwestern part of the city, into an infrastructure hub with an initial capacity of 1.5 GW to meet demand for AI and cloud computing. The platform has the potential to expand to up to 3.2 GW.
In June of this year, Rio Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere announced a US$550 million investment in the platform.
The city government does not yet have projections for the amount of investment the new event could attract to Rio, but according to Invest.Rio President Sidney Levy, the focus is on bringing together key institutions to drive the sector forward. “We are interested both in large events with many attendees and in smaller events that bring together key players, as is the case with this one,” said the head of the city’s investment promotion agency.
“This will be the first event in a series taking place in key locations. After Rio, they will go to Austin, Texas [United States]. Investments in AI are always astronomical, so it is difficult to put a number on them. What matters is having these players together here to build this ecosystem,” he said.
For industry operators, Rio’s selection to host the AI Cities Summit is linked to the city’s ability to align hyperscale development with sustainability, energy availability, and public-private collaboration.
Alessandro Lombardi, CEO of Elea Data Centers, said Rio could redefine computing infrastructure in Latin America: “Delivering the infrastructure needed to process future AI workloads will require unprecedented collaboration between the public and private sectors. The Latin American edition of the AI Cities Summit in Rio could become an important catalyst for aligning energy, infrastructure, investment, and technology around the economic development opportunity now emerging in Brazil and Latin America.”
AI-driven productivity leap
According to economist Zeina Latiff, the development of Brazil’s AI market should not be seen as a threat to jobs, but rather as a way for the country to achieve a major leap in productivity.
“There is potential for Brazil and other emerging countries. The way for Brazil to become part of the AI value chain is not to produce everything, but to specialize in certain areas and maximize its use,” the economic consultant said.
According to Latiff, Brazil still needs to ensure legal certainty throughout the production chain and establish clear rules to attract investment. “Although the country is a benchmark for clean energy, it is still necessary to ensure that this energy is reliable and available at competitive prices,” she said.