BRAZIL PERSPECTIVE

Brazil approaches AI regulation from the position of an emerging powerhouse caught between its ambitions as a Global South leader and the reality of technological dependence. Folha de São Paulo and O Globo frame the American regulatory landscape by systematically comparing it to Bill 2.338/2023, Brazil's AI "Legal Framework" — legislation passed by the Senate in December 2024, sent to the Chamber of Deputies in March 2025, but stalled since. The Brazilian AI Plan (PBIA) 2024-2028, titled "AI for the Benefit of All", sets ambitious targets: 23 billion reais for national computing infrastructure, sovereign cloud capacity, and foundation models in Portuguese.

Brazilian coverage is deeply shaped by BRICS logic and Global South positioning. Estadão notes that Brazil rejects both the American deregulation model — seen as capitulation to Silicon Valley interests — and Chinese state control, characterised as authoritarian. The Legal Framework adopts a risk-based architecture similar to the EU AI Act ("low", "high", and "unacceptable" risk tiers), but emphasises civil liability and establishing a National AI Regulation and Governance System (SIA). Yet researchers like Gabrielle Graça at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation temper expectations: the bill has slim chances of passing in 2026, a presidential election year when technology debates yield to immediate social pressures.

A major blind spot in Brazilian coverage is the chasm between stated ambitions and actual capacity. The 23 billion reais represent a fraction of US and Chinese investment, and Portuguese-language model development remains nascent. Amazon sovereignty — a reflexive Brazilian media trope against international pressure — translates to digital terms: "data sovereignty" is waved as a banner without the infrastructure to enforce it. The environmental angle — natural for a country hosting the Amazon — is paradoxically absent from debate on AI data centre energy consumption.