Brazil to host R$ 1 billion AI supercomputer in Rio Grande do Norte

The Brazilian government has selected the Augusto Severo Scientific and Technological Park, linked to the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) in Macaíba, to host a new artificial intelligence supercomputer. The project, funded by the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FNDCT), involves an investment of over R$ 1 billion.

The new machine is expected to reach a capacity of 7,200 petaflops, placing it among the ten most powerful supercomputers in the world for AI processing. This represents a massive leap from the country's current most powerful machine, the Santos Dumont supercomputer in Rio de Janeiro, which operates at 27 petaflops. The infrastructure will be managed by the National Laboratory for Scientific Computing (LNCC) and will be available to companies, universities, and government agencies for research, development, and model training.

This initiative is part of the Brazilian Artificial Intelligence Plan (PBIA), which aims for R$ 23 billion in investments through 2028. The goal is to reduce national dependence on foreign data processing, as approximately 60 percent of Brazilian AI processing currently occurs abroad. The government also plans to install another supercomputer in Rio de Janeiro and expand local chip manufacturing and cloud storage services.