(Bloomberg) — A commitment from , to help build a massive data center complex in Brazil is cementing the country’s position as the region’s top location for artificial intelligence-related investments.
China-based ByteDance Ltd. announced on Wednesday its intention to move forward with the Pecém project in the state of Ceará in northeastern Brazil. Brazil is considered the best-positioned country in South America to take advantage of the global boom in data centers used to run artificial intelligence, due to its abundance of renewable energy and an interconnected national electrical grid. Pecém is also close to an important hub for submarine telecommunications cables that connect the continent to Europe and Africa.
Also read:
ByteDance’s venture, the largest of its kind in Brazil so far, is a victory for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has promoted the country as a destination for investment in AI.
It is also the latest in a series of growing investments in technology and green energy by Chinese companies in Brazil. The partnerships began before US President Donald Trump’s re-election, but grew as both countries fell out over the US administration’s trade and energy priorities. Trump had imposed high tariffs on Brazil, one of the world’s largest emerging economies, and publicly criticized its leaders. Recently, Trump backed down and is working with Lula to improve relations between the US and Brazil.
China, in turn, is behind the US in the race to develop innovative artificial intelligence technologies. Furthermore, it is prevented from making this type of investment in the USA.
Continues after advertising
Brazil is also the country with the largest energy capacity financed by Chinese companies until 2022, according to the Global Development Policy Center at Boston University.
“Under the Trump administration, the US has systematically attempted to limit and dismantle China’s economic weight and influence in Latin America,” said Andrei Roman, CEO of research firm AtlasIntel. “The investment in Pecém demonstrates that China is willing and able to react, while Brazil willingly accepts its investments.”
Read more:
Continues after advertising
The Chinese company will partner with data center developer Omnia and Casa dos Ventos, one of Brazil’s leading renewable energy suppliers.
The planned complex in Pecém is “in a very strategic location”, said Rodrigo Abreu, CEO of Omnia, in an interview. “It is relatively close, at the same time, to Europe, Africa, North America and the rest of Latin America.”
Pecém also beat out locations in India, Norway and Malaysia to receive ByteDance’s investment, said Fabio Feijo, head of ZPE Ceará, an export-oriented special economic zone that is part of the Pecém complex.
Continues after advertising
“Data centers are not the end goal — they are the bait to attract high-tech industries and Big Tech operations,” Feijo said in an interview, describing the vision as “Ceará Valley”.
TikTok is also deepening its ties in Brazil, as the company has yet to come up with a plan to avoid blocking the service in the US. The Chinese government promised a month ago to work with Washington to resolve the future of TikTok’s U.S. business, but did not support a deal championed by Trump to spin off the ByteDance jewel into a new company controlled mainly by American investors.
Under a US security law signed last year by former President Joe Biden, Beijing-based ByteDance was required to sell TikTok in the US or face a ban in the country. The initial deadline was January 2025, but Trump extended it several times in an attempt to reach a deal.
Continues after advertising
Pecém is part of Lula’s broader ambitions for AI. Almost half of all planned and existing data centers in South America are in Brazil, according to Data Center Map, a website that tracks the sector. Lula also signed a provisional measure to offer incentives to companies that want to build data centers in Brazil, including the possibility of importing some equipment tax-free.
“The objective is to use data centers to structure new production chains,” said Uallace Moreira, Secretary of Industrial Development of Brazil, in an interview. “Data centers alone do not create jobs.”
Brazil leads the region in number of data centers
| Country | Data centers (existing and announced) |
| Brazil | 195 |
| Chile | 67 |
| Mexico | 63 |
| Colombia | 42 |
| Argentina | 42 |
Note: Data is updated daily and is updated and checked by operators
Still, there is a lot of hype and speculation about Brazil’s prospects. Only a third of the data centers announced in the country should actually come to fruition, as some have no connection to the electricity grid and others are very far from São Paulo, the country’s financial and commercial center, according to Aurora Energy Research.
The data center boom also brings risks. Brazil needs to expand transmission lines and deploy industrial-scale batteries to stabilize the supply of renewable energy, which varies depending on the weather, or risk moving from an energy surplus to an energy deficit as data centers and electric vehicles increase consumption, said Ty Eldridge, CEO of Brasol Participações e Empreendimentos SA, a renewable energy company based in São Paulo.
“Energy will become more expensive and scarcer,” he said. “There are enormous challenges even with government support.”
© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.
