Argentina Lower House Approves $1 Billion AI Tax Breaks as Milei's Hub Push Faces Grid Risks
Updated
Updated · Financial Times · Oct 23
Argentina Lower House Approves $1 Billion AI Tax Breaks as Milei's Hub Push Faces Grid Risks
2 articles · Updated · Financial Times · Oct 23
Summary
$1 billion is the minimum project size for Argentina’s new tax-break scheme, which the lower house approved and the Senate still must pass.
Javier Milei is pitching the measure as part of a drive to make Argentina an AI hub with light regulation, targeting data centres in a market PwC says could attract $31.6 trillion globally by 2050.
Patagonia has drawn interest thanks to cool weather, open land and shale gas, but Argentina’s ageing power grid and broader infrastructure gaps are slowing projects.
Several headline AI plans have stalled, including a proposed 500MW data centre linked to OpenAI, while momentum faded after adviser Demian Reidel left government amid a corruption scandal he denied involvement in.
Analysts say Argentina’s software base and unicorn density give it real potential, but policy uncertainty, economic instability and Milei’s cuts to universities and research could limit longer-term gains.