Argentina wins over AI giants as world tightens regulations

Argentina is reportedly promoting itself as an artificial intelligence center with increased oversight of the technology.

Javier Milei, the country’s new libertarian leader, has promised a less restrictive approach to regulating artificial intelligence (AI), a presidential adviser told the Financial Times (FT) in an interview published on Tuesday (June 11).

Demian Reidel, who last month heads Milei’s council of economic advisers and organized the president’s meetings with OpenAI, Google, Apple and Meta, said investing in Argentina would give companies a “safeguard” against increasing regulation in Europe and the U.S.

“Argentina has a president who actually promotes the ideas of freedom, low regulation and free enterprise, and he has captured the imagination of the tech world,” Reidel said. “All the stars aligned so that we will probably be the fourth artificial intelligence center in the world.”

The country could use this boost as it battles a severe economic crisis that has pushed inflation to 289%. As the FT notes, Milea’s government has yet to adopt any regulations to attract investment, but he has gained attention from tech tycoons for criticizing Western leaders.

The last mother, Milei and Reidel, held private meetings in California with CEOs including Apple’s Sam Altman and Tim Cook, as well as a group of investors and artificial intelligence experts. The FT report adds that Mieli also held two meetings with Elon Musk.

“People don’t realize that if all these people want to meet us… . . this is not a photo shoot,” Reidel said. “It’s a shared interest in terms of (investment) and what we give them in terms of regulation and a business-friendly place to operate.”

This comes as the regulatory climate around artificial intelligence in the U.S. becomes increasingly chilly, with reports last week that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have reached an agreement that allows them to continue investigations into the dominant roles of OpenAI, Microsoft and Nvidia are playing in the AI ​​space.

The Department of Justice is apparently investigating whether chipmaker Nvidia – now a $3 trillion company – has broken antitrust laws, while the FTC will focus on OpenAI and Microsoft after reportedly subpoenaing the latter over its recent deal with Inflection dealing with artificial intelligence artificial intelligence

Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury said last week it wanted public comments on the use of artificial intelligence in financial services.

The department says it wants to find out how technology is being used in the sector, what risks and opportunities it offers, and the obstacles to the responsible use of artificial intelligence.