This week, Chile unveiled Latam GPT, a foundational AI model optimized for AI Portuguese and Spanish linguistic nuances, as a shift toward a “Latin American AI revolution,” to break the dominance of Northern Hemisphere LLMs that struggle with cultural idioms.
The current American dominantly LLMs models struggle with the Global South’s legal specificities and complex dialects.
The launch of an AI in Latin America will create a system trained on local data, with initiative allowing the Global South to take control of its digital future, instead of relying on models developed abroad.
Latam GPT for Latin America
Latam GPT is not an ordinary chatbot as it is trained on over eight terabytes of data from across Latin America, including information in Spanish and Portuguese, with plans to include indigenous languages.
Coordinated by Chile’s National Center for Artificial Intelligence (CENIA), the AI in Portuguese project is funded with $550,000 from the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), along with contributions from regional universities and foundations.
President Gabriel Boric emphasized the importance of the model for regional identity, saying Latam GPT allows Latin America to position itself as an active player in the economy of the future.
CENIA director Alvaro Soto highlighted that global AI systems often include Latin American data only in small amounts, giving examples such as the detailed coverage of European history versus limited accounts of Chilean independence battles.
The Latin America AI will initially operate on Amazon Web Services but will later move to a supercomputer at the University of Tarapacá in northern Chile, with an investment of nearly 5 million dollars.
The goal is to provide a regional platform that reflects speech patterns, ending bias often seen in global AI models. It also aligns with broader AI Portugal strategy efforts to strengthen regional capabilities in technology.
“Latam-GPT won’t compete with global tech giants: instead. It will power tools for education, healthcare, and public services,” said Director of International Public Policy and Government Affairs at Shopify, KOstat Rossoglou.
AI and Data Market Growth in Latin America
AI Portuguese model will be free to access, enabling developers and businesses to create applications made for local needs. For example, it could improve hospital logistics or support customer service in airlines and retail.
Roberto Musso, director of Chilean company Digevo, explains that users can express themselves and receive answers in the local language, including slang and regional expressions, which existing AI models struggle to interpret.
The Portuguese AI model also serves as a cultural safeguard, helping ensure that AI in Latin America is not a passive consumer of foreign technology. As Minister of Science Aldo Valle noted, it aims to break down prejudices and prevent the representation of Latin America in the world from being homogeneous.
While it will not compete directly with global AI giants like OpenAI or Google, Portuguese and Spanish GPT offers an essential alternative, supporting education, healthcare, and public services with tools rooted in regional realities.
AI Portugal 2030 vision – a national strategy to position Portugal as a leader in AI, and encourages collaboration between universities, companies, and government through initiatives – is portrayed in the new model. And the AI Portugal strategy shows the coordination of public and private efforts to drive technological independence. In the future, AI Portuguese may create platforms to promote growth in the market and pave new ways for development.
In the end, the initiative highlights the potential of AI Portuguese to inspire similar projects across the region, demonstrating that Latin America can build its own AI future while protecting its cultural identity.
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