Brazil urged to build AI tech as Latin America risks lagging, says Google, WEF

Google Brazil CEO Fabio Coelho said the country must move from being a consumer of artificial‑intelligence tools to a producer, leveraging its clean‑energy matrix and expanding local infrastructure. He highlighted a new engineering centre in São Paulo and noted investments by Google and Uber to accelerate digital transformation.

World Economic Forum specialist Agustina Callegari warned that Latin America’s greatest risk from AI is falling behind, not job loss. A study with McKinsey estimates AI could add US$1.1‑1.7 trillion to the regional economy and boost productivity by about 2% annually, yet only 23% of surveyed firms report economic value from AI and just 6% see direct impact. She stressed the need for renewable‑energy‑based computing capacity and clear strategies to avoid widening inequality.