November 13, 2025
On Thursday, November 13, Paula Garnero, Director of Insight LAC, spoke at the German Club about a topic that is beginning to gain a place on the country’s strategic agenda: Is it possible to envision a 500 MW Data Center in Argentina? What does it mean for Argentina to be able to “export computing power” worth US$1 billion? These were some of the questions Paula Garnero raised during the event Investing in Argentina in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, held at the institution.
What does it mean to export inference computing power?
It means making our computing infrastructure (GPUs, data, energy, and connectivity) available to global technology companies so they can run AI models, process information, generate content, or perform inference tasks as an exportable service—just as we currently export software, professional services, or energy.
Today, all of Latin America’s AI inference demand is served by data centers located in the United States, resulting in higher latency and higher costs. “If Argentina builds local infrastructure and improves its regional digital integration, it can capture a growing share of a market that is expanding between 30% and 40% annually,” Garnero stated.
This opens the door to a new export sector based on computing infrastructure, energy, and data.
The announcement is so economically disruptive that it is worth putting into perspective: what are we really talking about?
To illustrate:
- 500 MW would make Argentina home to one of the largest data centers in the world, comparable only to the Citadel data center in Nevada, USA, which has a capacity of 650 MW.
- The announced investment (US$25 billion) is six times larger than Brazil’s entire national AI plan (US$4 billion).
- The export potential of a 500 MW facility could translate into US$1 billion annually, equivalent to roughly one-third of Argentina’s corn exports.
Garnero argued that the scale of the project invites a number of strategic questions:
- Are we envisioning the right scale for a country that is only beginning this journey?
- What would it mean for our energy system to host a project of this magnitude?
- How should its governance be designed to avoid extractive models and ensure local value creation?
- Are we prepared to protect critical infrastructure in a global environment marked by growing geopolitical tensions?
Perhaps it would be more realistic for Argentina to initially aim for a 100 MW data center in order to build regulatory, energy, and governance capabilities before scaling up to global levels. Today, renewable energy generation reaches 7,000 MW, and it would be beneficial if a future data center could drive new investment in this sector. Investments in connectivity infrastructure will also be required (the fiber-optic cable currently reaches Las Toninas).
In this context, it is necessary to adopt a strategic perspective
Beyond the economic opportunity—which is real and enormous—this debate compels us to think of artificial intelligence as the critical infrastructure of the 21st century.
Just as Argentina invested for decades in nuclear energy and its space industry, today we need a state policy focused on AI and digital sovereignty.
The challenges are clear:
- Planning electricity generation and consumption for high-demand projects.
- Defining a governance model that maximizes local benefits while minimizing risks.
- Protecting critical infrastructure in an uncertain global context.
This is not simply about building a data center. It is about deciding what role we want to play in the economy of the future and understanding that this window of opportunity will not remain open forever.
Our thanks to the German Club in Buenos Aires for providing the space and fostering a necessary conversation that is only just beginning.