Chile is officially the region’s AI heavyweight. For the second year in a row, the country topped the Latin American Artificial Intelligence Index 2025, scoring 70.5 points, followed by Brazil (67.3) and Uruguay (62.3).

The ranking — which measures AI development across 19 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean — paints a clear picture: the region is leveling up, but still has a long way to go.

🌎 Who’s Rising Fast

This year’s report highlights impressive progress from Costa Rica, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, and Guatemala— countries that boosted their scores thanks to stronger connectivity, training programs, and national AI strategies.

The findings suggest that even mid-sized economies can accelerate their tech maturity when education reforms and open institutions are in play.

💻 AI Skills Take the Spotlight

Costa Rica and Uruguay are standing out as regional leaders in AI education, weaving digital skills into their school systems.
In Colombia, a different model is thriving — self-taught learners. The country leads the region in digital education on platforms like Coursera, proving that innovation doesn’t always start in a classroom.

Still, there’s a big caveat: basic digital literacy is growing faster than advanced AI training. Thirteen out of 19 countries don’t yet offer PhD programs in AI, and that lack of talent is limiting homegrown solutions.

⚙️ Infrastructure Gaps and Data Hurdles

Brazil continues to dominate the region’s tech landscape, holding over 90% of Latin America’s high-performance computing capacity. Uruguay, Costa Rica, and Colombia are catching up in per-capita GPU power, but 11 countries still score below 50 on digital infrastructure.

The report also calls out a “data bottleneck.” While Latin America generates tons of information, only a few countries — Chile and Mexico among them — are making real progress in open and standardized data. Without that, AI systems risk bias and inefficiency.

📊 The Bigger Picture

During the presentation, Rodrigo Durán, manager of Chile’s National Center for Artificial Intelligence, warned that while progress is real, the gap with global tech powers is growing fast.

Right now, 68% of active AI researchers are based in Brazil and Mexico, and those two countries — along with Chile — produce the lion’s share of Latin America’s high-impact AI research.

There’s also a missed opportunity in using AI for democracy. Only Mexico, Colombia, and Peru are experimenting with citizen engagement through AI-driven consultations and policy tools.

🚀 A Region on the Edge of an AI Boom

Despite its challenges, Latin America’s AI scene is buzzing with potential. The report says the region already represents 15–20% of the global market for generative AI apps, but just 1% of global investment — a sign of both inequality and opportunity.

As Álvaro Soto, director of the AI Center, puts it:

“Latin America has enormous potential. The challenge now is to align digitalization with sustainable development and cooperation.”

If the momentum continues, the region could become a global player in ethical, inclusive AI — one uniquely shaped by Latin America’s mix of creativity, resilience, and social focus.

✨ TL;DR

• 🇨🇱 Chile remains #1 in AI in Latin America.

• 🇧🇷 Brazil and 🇺🇾 Uruguay follow close behind.

• 🇨🇷 Costa Rica, Ecuador, and the Dominican Republic are the ones to watch.

• The region’s talent and data gaps are still major challenges.

• AI could be Latin America’s biggest development opportunity yet.