Latin America stands at the threshold of a transformation it is not yet prepared to navigate: the growing influence of artificial intelligence. File Photo by Wu Hao/EPA
Latin America stands at the threshold of a transformation it is not yet prepared to navigate.
Artificial intelligence is no longer a distant frontier. It is reorganizing economic power, reshaping political influence and redefining what sovereignty means in the 21st century. Yet across much of the region, political leaders and intellectual elites remain insufficiently aware of the magnitude of this shift.
The numbers tell the story. Latin America accounts for 6.6% of global GDP but attracts just 1.1% of worldwide AI investment, according to the ECLAC-CENIA Latin American Artificial Intelligence Index released in October. The region’s AI market, valued at approximately $4.7 billion in 2024, is projected to reach $30 billion by 2033, but nearly all the infrastructure underpinning that growth is owned and operated by a handful of U.S. and Chinese technology firms. AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud collectively control roughly two-thirds of global cloud infrastructure, and their dominance in Latin America is even more pronounced.
This is not merely a technological transition. It is a geopolitical realignment, and the region is arriving late.
Data as the new raw material
In earlier centuries, colonial systems extracted minerals, agricultural products and energy resources from Latin America. In the digital age, data is the most valuable resource, and the extractive pattern is repeating itself in new forms.
Every online action leaves a trace. That information is collected and refined by a small number of global technology firms. Through advanced analytics, these companies construct behavioral forecasts that anticipate how individuals will act, consume and vote. The result is what can be described as data neocolonialism: a system in which technological powers extract and control digital value generated elsewhere, while the countries producing that data see little of the return.
Latin America currently hosts just 4.8% of the world’s data center infrastructure, according to the U.N. Development Program, compared with 38.5% for the United States alone. The region’s data center market is expected to double in value by 2029, with investment exceeding $2 billion in 2024, but most of that capital comes from abroad. Foreign companies continue to shape the region’s digital infrastructure and cloud ecosystem on their own terms.
Without clear data governance strategies, Latin American economies risk a form of structural dependence in which digital platforms operate much as extractive industries once did, profiting from local resources while concentrating wealth and decision-making power elsewhere.
Caught between superpowers
Geopolitical competition is intensifying this dynamic. In July, the Trump administration released “Winning the Race: America’s AI Action Plan,” framing artificial intelligence as a zero-sum contest in which the United States must achieve what officials called “unquestioned and unchallenged global technological dominance.” In the same month, China unveiled its own “Action Plan on Global Governance of Artificial Intelligence,” positioning AI as a global public good that requires multilateral cooperation and emphasizes support for the Global South.
Both frameworks carry strategic implications for Latin America. Washington’s approach ties AI exports to alignment with U.S. standards. Beijing’s model extends its influence through infrastructure investment and platform expansion, a pattern already evident in Huawei’s 5G deployments across the region. Neither framework was designed with Latin American interests at the center.
The region must decide whether to adopt imported systems or develop its own digital sovereignty framework. As the space for autonomous decision-making narrows, neutrality increasingly appears to be a default rather than a design choice.
The subtle architecture of influence
Digital power rarely relies on coercion. It works through influence. Algorithmic systems curate personalized information streams that reinforce existing beliefs and emotional responses. Social media platforms are engineered to maximize attention, activating neurological reward mechanisms that encourage constant return. The result is fragmentation rather than dialogue, a condition that weakens democratic deliberation precisely when societies need it most.
This form of domination is not imposed from outside. It operates within the digital environment that increasingly frames perception and choice. For a region already contending with institutional fragility and organized disinformation, the risks are compounded. Information today is abundant. Knowledge, which requires discernment and reflection, is scarcer than ever.
Promising signals, uncertain follow-through
Some governments have begun to respond. Brazil launched the most ambitious initiative in the region with its $4 billion AI plan in 2024, structured around infrastructure development, workforce training and a sovereign cloud to protect sensitive data. The plan includes funding for a Portuguese-language large language model, a meaningful step toward technological autonomy. Chile, Uruguay and Colombia have each updated their national AI strategies, and Mexico has signaled renewed attention to digital policy under President Claudia Sheinbaum.
The broader ECLAC index, however, presents a less encouraging reality. Most national AI strategies lack sufficient financing and clear implementation mechanisms. The talent gap continues to widen as AI specialists migrate abroad. No country in Latin America meets the global average for AI investment relative to GDP per capita; the regional average remains roughly six times below that benchmark.
The European Union’s AI Act, which entered into force in 2024, provides a risk-based regulatory model that classifies AI systems by their potential for harm and imposes corresponding obligations on developers. Latin American policymakers would do well to study their approach to algorithmic transparency and accountability, adapting provisions to regional realities rather than waiting for external standards to be imposed.
A civilizational decision
Technology need not be rejected. It must be governed. That means enforceable data sovereignty frameworks that give citizens and nations real control over how their data is stored and commercialized. It means algorithmic accountability with independent oversight of the systems that shape public discourse and economic opportunity. It entails a serious investment in digital literacy so that populations can engage critically with these technologies rather than passively. It means measured regulation that prevents monopolistic concentration without stifling the innovation the region urgently needs.
Latin America has real assets for this challenge: renewable energy resources that data centers increasingly require, a young and growing digital population, and established universities that produce capable researchers. What remains uncertain is whether governments will move from strategy documents to coordinated action before the window closes.
If digital transformation unfolds without ethical guidance, it will reinforce inequality and dependency. If guided by deliberate policy and civic engagement, it could expand human capabilities and strengthen democratic institutions. The architecture of the digital order is being built now. Latin America must decide whether it will help set the rules of the digital age or accept standards imposed from abroad.
Carlos Cantero is a Chilean academic at the International University of La Rioja in Spain and the author of Digital Society: Reason and Emotion. An international lecturer, adviser, and consultant, he focuses on adaptability in the digital society, ethics, social innovation, and human development. The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
