Brazil splits new supercomputer project between US, China

Brazil’s government has announced investments of about 2.3 billion reais ($444.2 million) to ‌bolster its artificial intelligence ecosystem, splitting projects between US and Chinese companies, reports Reuters.  The move underscores its effort to navigate relations with both powers.

Just over half the total, 1.3 billion reais, will fund a supercomputing infrastructure project in Rio de ​Janeiro developed in partnership with China’s Huawei Technologies and iFlytek. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s ​government said the infrastructure will be used primarily to develop large language models for ⁠general and sector-specific applications.

Separately, about 1 billion reais will be allocated through a tender for a supercomputer ​that Brazil expects to rank among the world’s 10 most powerful AI processing machines. Government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they expect US chipmaker Nvidia to win the tender. Science and ​Technology Minister Luciana Santos told the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper last week that she anticipated the ​company would be the supplier.