Brazil Launches Bid for Top-Ten AI Supercomputer, Partners with China

The Brazilian government has initiated a tender process to construct one of the world's ten most powerful supercomputers, aiming to bolster the nation's artificial intelligence capabilities. The initiative represents a significant investment in technological advancement, with the supercomputer project estimated to cost around R$1 billion (approximately $192 million).

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced the plan, emphasizing Brazil's ambition to be a leader in AI. "Neither the Chinese nor the Americans are better than us. We are going to enter this market," Lula declared during a ceremony. The state-of-the-art machine is slated for installation at the Augusto Severo Technological Park at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte and is projected to be operational by 2027. It will boast a data processing capacity of 7,200 petaflops, positioning it among the world's leading AI-focused computing systems.

“

Brazil wants to 'think big' and does not want to be 'inferior to anyone' in the field of artificial intelligence.

The tender conditions include technology transfer from the winning company, the hiring of Brazilian suppliers, and the training of approximately 5,000 local workers. Nvidia is reportedly the only supplier possessing the necessary technology to meet the bid's stringent requirements.

In parallel, Brazil is pursuing a second, less powerful supercomputer through a collaboration between the National Education and Research Network and Chinese companies Huawei and iFlytek. This project, expected to begin operations in July 2027 with an investment of R$1.276 billion over five years, will focus on developing AI language models in Portuguese and enhancing the country's overall computing power. Furthermore, Brazil is outlining a 10-15 year strategy to increase its chip development capacity and reduce foreign dependency, exploring collaboration with Barcelona's innovation ecosystem on RISC-V architecture.

“

Neither the Chinese nor the Americans are better than us. We are going to enter this market.