TLDR: Brazil is rapidly advancing its artificial intelligence ecosystem with significant government investments and a comprehensive regulatory framework. The nation aims to become a global leader in AI innovation, allocating BRL23 billion (approximately USD4 billion) through the Brazilian Artificial Intelligence Plan (PBIA) from 2024 to 2028. AI is being integrated across diverse sectors, including healthcare, agriculture, finance, and public administration, to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and improve service delivery. Concurrently, Brazil is developing robust legislation, Bill No 2,338/2023, to ensure ethical, transparent, and accountable AI deployment, addressing concerns such as algorithmic bias, data protection, and liability.
Brazil is making significant strides in leveraging artificial intelligence to transform its economy and public sector, with ambitious plans and substantial investments set to solidify its position as a regional and global AI leader by 2025. The nation’s commitment is underscored by the Brazilian Artificial Intelligence Plan (PBIA 2024–28), which earmarks approximately BRL23 billion (around USD4 billion) over four years for infrastructure development, capacity building, business innovation, and regulatory improvements .
Government-Led Initiatives and Investments
The federal government, through the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovations (MCTI), is at the forefront of this transformation. The Brazilian National AI Strategy (EBIA), established in 2021, guides the state’s actions to stimulate AI research, innovation, and ethical use. It aligns with OECD guidelines, emphasizing inclusive growth, human-centered values, transparency, robustness, and accountability .
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva articulated Brazil’s vision, stating, “Instead of waiting for AI to come from China, the U.S., South Korea, Japan, why not have our own?” This highlights a drive for technological autonomy and national sovereignty in AI . Key components of this strategy include making the Santos Dumont supercomputer one of the world’s five most powerful and investing in renewable energy to support AI’s increased energy demands. The development of Brazilian Portuguese language models is also a priority to reduce reliance on foreign technologies .
Beyond federal efforts, several Brazilian states, including São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Pernambuco, and Minas Gerais, are launching their own AI strategies and investing in research hubs and innovation centers to bolster local industries . Incentives for the private sector include direct investment, tax relief, and regulatory sandboxes, which allow companies to test innovative AI applications within flexible frameworks .
AI Across Key Sectors: Data and Impact
Public Administration: AI tools are optimizing service delivery, data analytics, process automation, and decision support in areas like tax administration, public health, and social welfare programs. The judicial system employs AI-powered tools such as ‘Victor’ for classifying court procedures, ‘Rafa 2030’ for aligning with UN Sustainable Development Goals, ‘Vitória’ for grouping cases, and ‘Maria’ for drafting judgment reports. These tools, developed in-house by the Supreme Federal Court (STF), aim to reduce case processing times and improve consistency . São Paulo’s ‘Smart Sampa’ program uses facial recognition for public security, with updated protocols including a 90% match threshold and human review to address privacy and bias concerns .
Healthcare: In 2023, the Brazilian Supplementary Health Agency (ANS) launched AI projects to analyze online complaints, update registration data for regulated companies, and improve reimbursement procedures in the public health system (SUS). Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein adopted Lunit’s AI for chest X-ray screenings, and Ada Health received class II medical device certification, marking significant milestones .
Agriculture: Agribusiness, accounting for 27% of Brazil’s GDP in 2024, is seeing AI boost productivity by up to 20% and reduce losses from climate events and pests by as much as 30%, according to Embrapa. AI-powered crop monitoring, precision farming platforms, and drone-based field analysis are becoming common. However, a significant challenge remains in workforce adaptation, with only 32% of companies bridging the necessary skills gap .
Industries: The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) reports that 84.9% of industries in Brazil use advanced digital technologies. In 2023, 67% of industrial companies used AI and computer vision in manufacturing, primarily for optimizing production chains and supply chain management. AI use was most frequent in administration (73.8%), product/process/service development (65.9%), and marketing (65.1%) .
Finance and Banking: Brazilian banks projected investments exceeding BRL47 billion in new technologies for 2024, with a focus on AI for automation, cybersecurity, biometrics, and customer relationships. AI applications include facial biometrics (75%), chatbots (71%), robotic process automation (67%), and Generative AI (54%). A recent Nvidia survey indicates that 52% of companies in the financial sector now use AI, up from 40% in 2023, primarily for security, personalized offers, and customer service .
E-commerce and Retail: A 2024 study found that 47% of Brazilian retailers use AI, mainly for marketing and sales. Top applications include customer service via chatbots (56%), marketing content creation (50%), personalizing customer experience (36%), and analyzing trends (34%). In e-commerce, 75% of companies use AI for consumer profiling, targeted ads, and personalized experiences .
Evolving Regulatory Landscape
Brazil is actively developing a comprehensive legal framework for AI. Bill No 2,338/2023, approved by the Federal Senate in December 2024 and currently under review by the House of Representatives, is expected to be enacted in 2025. This bill adopts a risk-based approach, classifying AI systems into limited, high, and prohibited risk categories, each with corresponding obligations. It mandates transparency, accountability, safety, human oversight, and non-discrimination, and proposes a national authority for AI governance, with the Brazilian Data Protection Authority (ANPD) coordinating this system .
Existing laws like the General Data Protection Law (LGPD) play a crucial role in regulating AI-related data processing. The ANPD has initiated proceedings against social media platforms for using personal data to train generative AI models, emphasizing transparency, clear user notification, and accessible opt-out mechanisms, particularly concerning minors’ data . The Federal Council of the Brazilian Bar Association also approved guidelines in early 2025 for the ethical use of generative AI in legal practice, requiring supervision of AI-generated outputs and client confidentiality .
Challenges and Future Outlook
Despite the rapid advancements, challenges remain. The proposed Text and Data Mining (TDM) exception in Bill No 2,338/2023 has drawn criticism for potentially hindering AI training by private, for-profit organizations by not extending the exception to commercial actors . Concerns about algorithmic bias, particularly in sensitive areas like credit scoring, employment, and law enforcement, are also being actively addressed through regulatory scrutiny and industry best practices .
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Brazil’s strategic and realistic national policy aims not only to promote AI adoption but also to prepare businesses for its economic implications. Companies are encouraged to invest in AI, ensuring these investments lead to sustainable productivity gains rather than just increased expenditure, thereby transforming potential into tangible value across all sectors . The coming months will be pivotal in shaping Brazil’s AI landscape, as it balances innovation-driven growth with safeguarding individual rights and ethical deployment.
