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Data centers have become a politically sensitive issue in the US midterm election campaign. Not so in the contest presidential from Brazil.
Looking ahead to the country’s October elections, both the president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva like his right-wing rival, Flavio Bolsonaroare making multibillion-dollar data centers and the investment in artificial intelligence they entail central elements of their proposals to boost Latin America’s largest economy.
This contrasts sharply with the situation in USAwhere voter outrage over electricity bills and water consumption is putting politicians on the defensive even in data center bastions like Virginia and Texas.
Lula has invoked data sovereignty, the promise of jobs and increased foreign investment, while pressuring lawmakers to push for a law that would sharply reduce taxes on information technology equipment for data centers. The bill is scheduled for a vote in the Senate on Tuesday and is expected to accelerate megaprojects such as the $65 billion Rio Al City development planned for Brazil’s second-largest city.
“We could see a significant influx of money to build data centers here in Brazil,” he said. Lula last week.
State and municipal governments, from Rio de Janeiro to Ceará, in northern Brazil, compete to attract companies from hyperscale Americans and Chinese for projects that will cost tens of billions of dollars. Bolsonaro He has also supported reducing taxes on imported computer chips and equipment to make projects more attractive.
At stake is Brazil’s aspiration to become the Latin American hub of computing power for AI, ahead of rivals Argentina and Chile, which offer incentives and build infrastructure to compete for the same investments.
Data centers have faced protests, especially from groups indigenous. But opposition has not exploded like in the United States, where approximately 70% were against the local construction of these facilities, according to a survey by Gallup held in March.
