The Challenge and the Opportunity

Artificial Intelligence is reshaping economic competitiveness, scientific leadership, and geopolitical influence at unprecedented speed. A small number of global technology corporations now control critical layers of the AI stack — advanced compute, foundation models, developer ecosystems, and enterprise deployment channels. Latin America and the Caribbean lack shared access to frontier compute, large-scale models, and global distribution channels. Yet the region possesses meaningful assets: national AI strategies in several countries, growing research capacity, a vibrant startup ecosystem, and — critically — a combined market of 650 million people whose challenges in agriculture, health, climate, financial inclusion, and digital government represent precisely the domains where applied AI can deliver the highest social and economic returns.

The INKA Strategic Program on Regional Cooperation in Artificial Intelligence proposes transforming the region’s fragmented AI landscape into a coherent, region-wide platform that can mobilize public resources, attract private investment, and negotiate structured partnerships with global technology leaders — while ensuring these partnerships generate lasting regional capabilities rather than dependency.

The immediate ask: USD 350-450 million over a 5-year foundational phase, mobilized through a diversified funding model drawing on regional governments (25-30%), multilateral banks and international financial institutions (30-35%), bilateral donors (20-25%), and private sector and philanthropy including significant in-kind contributions from technology partners (15-20%). This investment is designed to establish the institutional architecture, prove the model across priority domains, and create the conditions for sustained regional AI capability-building.

The program is built on five integrated pillars:

• Pillar I – Regional AI Research and Innovation Network: Large-scale, multi-country research and innovation programs organized around competitively selected thematic nodes in domains such as sustainable agriculture, health, climate and energy, digital government, and financial inclusion.
• Pillar II – Shared Compute and Data Infrastructure: A Latin American AI compute facility combining regional resources, cloud-based solutions, and negotiated access agreements with global providers; plus a Regional AI Data Commons with common standards for anonymization, governance, and interoperability.
• Pillar III – Human Capital Development and Talent Circulation: Over 1,000 fellowships and advanced training positions; regional AI chairs; diaspora engagement; and talent circulation mechanisms designed to embed Latin American researchers in global networks while anchoring their work in regional priorities.
• Pillar IV – Governance, Ethics, and Regulatory Convergence: Model legal frameworks, regulatory sandboxes, shared ethical guidelines, and modernized IP regimes for text-and-data mining — reducing regulatory fragmentation while avoiding over-regulation that constrains innovation.
• Pillar V – Strategic Partnerships with Global Technology Leaders: A dedicated INKA AI Partnership and Investment Platform operating as a regional “deal desk” to structure, negotiate, and govern partnerships with leading global technology companies through a graduated model spanning compute access, joint research labs, AI deployments for public value, and investment promotion.

The Investment Case

INKA does not replace national AI strategies, sub-regional initiatives, or global normative frameworks. It is the missing layer in the current cooperation architecture: one that connects policy to execution, scales pilots to regional platforms, and links national efforts to global ecosystems. By aggregating regional demand and acting collectively, LAC can engage leading technology companies on more balanced terms than any individual country or institution could achieve alone. The cost of continued fragmentation — duplicated investments, weak bargaining positions, talent drain, and marginal influence in shaping the global AI ecosystem — far exceeds the investment required.