Can Argentina become an AI hub?

Argentine President Javier Milei is looking to attract technological investments to Argentina and, on the heels of meeting Elon Musk in April, this week he toured the US to meet the top brass of OpenAI, Google and Apple, and is expected to speak with Meta before returning to Buenos Aires.

The government maintains that the objective is to turn Argentina into a hub of artificial intelligence (AI), taking advantage of the country's availability of energy, extensive territory and low regulation in this area.

“Argentina, with its current lack of regulation, has an opportunity for the development of artificial intelligence. It's very positive that the government can have this [collaboration] at such a high level,” Andrés Piazza, a director of the Latin American and Caribbean digital development institute (IDD LAC), a think tank, told BNamericas.

Argentina is aiming to be the world's fourth biggest hub for AI development, behind the US, China and Europe. The lack of "restrictive" regulations like those in Europe are an advantage for the nation to accomplish this goal, according to the head of the Argentine government's council of economic advisors, Demian Reidel.

"In Europe, they always do everything wrong. They overregulate and they're killing off all innovation," Reidel was reported as saying by local press.

Meanwhile, Piazza says that unlike other technological advances where a high degree of regulation may not be compatible with innovation, the Western standard that is compatible with human rights and democratic values, based on human-centered regulation, is essential for the development of AI. 

“This time not only is there no dichotomy, but there is effectively no clash between human-based regulation and innovation,” he said.

European regulation establishes a series of obligations for AI based on potential risks and impacts. However, risk-based regulation avoids slowing innovation by including less restrictive rules for applications that would not necessarily have a significant impact.

Both Peru and Chile have moved forward with regulations that follow the same logic.

“Chile has not only developed a national cybersecurity strategy, it has not only adhered to international principles of ethics, it has created spaces, teams, regulatory sandboxes and now a bill with risk logic,” said Piazza.

If Argentina wants to gain competitiveness in AI, Piazza believes it is essential to advance with the pyramid of institutional capabilities and pre-existing regulations in data governance, privacy and security.

“Argentina needs to complete its [regulatory] map and I think it's a great debate at the moment, to understand what the business or opportunity is when producing a regulation,” he added.

RECOMMENDATIONS

In mid-2023, the recommendations for AI were approved in Argentina, the objective of which was to “establish clear rules to guarantee that the benefits of technological advances are taken advantage of by all sectors of society, strengthening the Argentine scientific and technological ecosystem,” the government stated in a release at the time.

The country has also signed UNESCO recommendation treaties on the ethics of AI.

Last year, the agency for access to public information ordered the creation of a program for transparency and protection of personal data in the use of AI. The country also has its own AI plan, approved in 2019, and the technology is included in the 2030 ICT plan drafted in 2022.

Bills have also been submitted to congress to regulate AI and update the personal data law, although they have not yet made significant progress.

THE ARGENTINE MARKET

The regulatory aspect is just one area of opportunity to enable Argentina to become an AI hub.

“Argentina's climatic, energy and human capital conditions are a real opportunity for development,” said Piazza.

In addition to a government and regulations that are expected to be more business-friendly, Argentina has competitive advantages such as the rapid development of the knowledge industry, which is one of the main drivers of the country's exports, reaching US$8.1bn in 2023, according to figures from business chamber Argencon.

The sector formally employs 494,000 people, which accounts for 7.4% of total national private sector employment.

MILEI'S US MEETINGS

Despite Milei having met with top US technology executives, no specific deals have been announced.

The press release from the presidency about the meeting with Google states that Google CEO "Sundar Pichai expressed his enthusiasm about the opportunities offered by AI and reiterated Google's commitment to supporting digital transformation in the country."

At that meeting, several potential collaboration projects were discussed, focused on the development of digital infrastructure and training in technological skills for the public.

Meanwhile, the meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook took a similar tone, focusing on digital infrastructure and the creation of educational programs. In addition, it was emphasized that it is important to create a large community of developers based on the technological talent in Argentina, according to the information issued by the government.

In April, when Milei met Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX, the government stated they both agreed on the importance of technological development for the progress of humanity and the need to establish clear and stable rules to attract companies.