Argentina and Brazil implement major technology and surveillance initiatives

In Argentina, the government has spent at least US$ 1.2 million on surveillance technologies between 2024 and 2025. According to a report by Amnesty International, these expenditures include facial recognition software from Clearview AI, social media tracking, and aerial surveillance tools. The report notes that these acquisitions occurred via direct contracting and amidst changes to security force functions and public information access, without congressional oversight or sufficient human rights impact assessments.

In Brazil, the administration of President Lula da Silva has announced a US$ 444.2 million investment to bolster its artificial intelligence ecosystem. The strategy involves a dual approach to avoid dependence on a single global power: more than half of the funds will support a supercomputing infrastructure project in Rio de Janeiro in collaboration with Chinese firms Huawei Technologies and iFlytek. Simultaneously, Brazil is launching a tender for a powerful supercomputer in Rio Grande do Norte, with US-based chipmaker Nvidia expected to be a key participant. The initiative aims to strengthen national data sovereignty.