Brazil is trying to turn a volatile global backdrop into an investment pitch. In separate moves this week, data center operator Scala outlined a massive AI-focused campus in southern Brazil, while US-based USA Rare Earth agreed to buy Brazil's Serra Verde in a USD 2.8 billion deal. Together, the announcements point to the same bet: that companies building the next wave of AI and industrial infrastructure want stable locations, abundant power and access to critical materials.
The push comes as executives across sectors reassess where to place capital. Luciano Fialho, a senior vice-president at Scala Data Centers, told Bloomberg News that the company plans to begin the first phase of its proposed Scala AI City near Porto Alegre late this year. He said the Brazilian group, backed by DigitalBridge, is in talks with US and Chinese technology companies to secure a hyperscaler tenant for AI servers and high-performance chips.
Brazil's Pitch
Scala said it has approval for an electricity connection of up to 5 gigawatts for the project, a scale Fialho compared to the power consumption of São Paulo or London. He said the first phase would require about USD 500 million in infrastructure spending from Scala alone, while the eventual computing equipment installed by a hyperscaler would cost several times more.
The company's case for Brazil rests on three factors repeatedly cited by investors in digital infrastructure: renewable energy, fiber connectivity and relative distance from major conflict zones. Fialho said recent turmoil in the Middle East has made Brazil look more attractive as a location for critical infrastructure. State officials in Rio Grande do Sul are also openly courting the project as a way to build a technology cluster.
That argument fits a broader global debate about AI investment. Siemens chief executive Roland Busch warned this week that restrictive European Union rules could push more industrial AI spending toward the United States and China. He said most of the German company's planned EUR 1 billion investment in industrial AI would go to the US because of Europe's regulatory burden, arguing that Brussels is applying consumer-style rules to industrial systems that already face sector-specific oversight.
Minerals and Manufacturing
Brazil's opportunity is not limited to server farms. USA Rare Earth's purchase of Serra Verde adds an operating Brazilian mine to a portfolio that already includes a Texas deposit, a processing plant in Oklahoma and a metals unit in the UK. The combined company said it wants to expand further through acquisitions in mining and magnet manufacturing, even as it expects to build more processing capacity organically.
The deal reflects a wider effort by the US and allied countries to reduce dependence on China in rare earths, a group of 17 elements used in electric vehicles, wind turbines and military equipment. China still dominates mining, processing and magnet production. By bringing Serra Verde into its supply chain, USA Rare Earth gains producing assets in Brazil at a moment when Western governments and companies are looking for alternative sources.
For Brazil, that creates a rare overlap between digital and industrial strategy. The country can offer land, power and network infrastructure for AI data centers while also positioning itself as a supplier of the minerals that support advanced manufacturing.
That does not guarantee success. Large data centers face environmental, grid and permitting challenges everywhere, and the rare-earth market remains shaped by China's scale. But this week's deals suggest Brazil is being taken more seriously in boardrooms deciding where AI infrastructure and strategic supply chains will be built.
In that sense, Brazil's sales pitch is no longer just about being Latin America's biggest market. It is about being a comparatively stable, energy-rich platform in a world where geopolitics, regulation and industrial policy are once again driving investment decisions.
Fonts: https://www.bloomberglinea.com.br/tech/scala-aposta-em-cidade-de-data-centers-para-atrair-investimentos-em-ia-ao-brasil/ https://www.bloomberglinea.com.br/negocios/apos-compra-da-serra-verde-usa-rare-earth-busca-mais-aquisicoes-em-terras-raras/ https://www.bloomberglinea.com.br/tech/ceo-da-siemens-alerta-que-regras-de-ia-da-uniao-europeia-podem-travar-investimentos/
accessed on 21 April 2026