Argentina’s President Javier Milei is pitching the country as a destination for AI data centres, pairing a promise against AI regulation with a proposed corporate income tax rate of 15% for large projects. Speaking to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington in October, he said his government would leave AI free of regulation, the Associated Press reported on 2 November. His tax proposal still needs Senate approval.
Key points
- Milei proposes a 15% corporate income tax rate instead of 25% for investments of at least $1 billion in AI or other emerging fields.
- The lower house approved the Super RIGI bill on 24 June by 130 votes to 106. The Senate has yet to approve it.
- The proposed incentives carry no requirement to reserve computing capacity for use in Argentina or disclose energy and water consumption.
- Green Capital plans a $3 billion data centre in Patagonia but has yet to secure a customer.
The Super RIGI bill awaits the Senate
“We are not going to regulate artificial intelligence,” Milei told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “We are going to leave it free.” The pledge is part of an effort to draw foreign investment to a country whose economic instability has made companies wary. Milei is also seeking to reduce the corporate income tax rate from 25% to 15% for investments of at least $1 billion in AI and other emerging industries.
The lower house approved the measure, known as the Super RIGI bill, on 24 June by 130 votes to 106, FourWeekMBA reported. Senate approval is still required. For a company considering a data-centre investment, the distinction matters: the lower-house vote has not put the proposed rate into effect.
The proposed incentives would not oblige data-centre operators to keep any computing capacity available for Argentine users. They would also impose no requirement to disclose how much energy or water a facility consumes. Those terms bear on the local return from projects that use land and power, as well as on what residents could learn about their resource demands. Data centres typically employ relatively few people, according to the Associated Press.
Milei’s pitch comes amid opposition to data centres in the United States and Europe, including disputes over grid access and the allocation of electricity. The response is taking different forms: Texas Governor Greg Abbott wants state lawmakers to enact data-centre restrictions in 2027. Argentina is seeking investment in the same infrastructure with a lower proposed tax rate and fewer proposed conditions on its operation.
Tech visitors and unresolved AI rules
Visitor logs obtained by the Associated Press show that venture capitalist Peter Thiel and representatives of OpenAI, Amazon, Google and Oracle met Milei or his aides. Argentine Foreign Ministry records also show that data-centre developer Crusoe sought talks with energy officials about US government-backed investments. The meetings and approaches put potential investors in contact with the government; they are separate from decisions to build.
One plan predates the current pitch. Milei’s office announced Stargate Argentina on 10 October 2025 as a letter of intent between OpenAI and Sur Energy for a data centre of up to 500MW and investment of up to $25 billion, FourWeekMBA reported. Both figures describe the scale contemplated in that announcement, rather than a completed facility or expenditure.
Milei’s opposition to AI regulation also sits alongside questions companies want settled. A senior government official, speaking without authorisation to brief the media, said companies were waiting for rules on using copyrighted works to train AI and transferring personal data abroad, the Associated Press reported. Nicolás Wolovick, a computer science professor at the National University of Córdoba, warned that deploying AI without safeguards could expose Argentina to risks. Milei’s promise to leave the technology free does not resolve the rules those companies are seeking.
Green Capital’s plans near Trelew
Patagonia is central to the infrastructure pitch. Its open plains allow facilities to sit far from population centres, while its cool climate can reduce the need to cool servers. The region has strong winds for electricity generation and the Vaca Muerta shale deposit as a potential source of gas-fired power. Pampa Energía has announced plans to supply gas-fired electricity to a data centre near Vaca Muerta and is looking for developers.
Green Capital, a Polish renewable energy company, plans a $3 billion data centre in Patagonia that it would lease to large technology companies for AI computing. It has yet to secure a customer. Marta Zlotkowska, its head of international development, said grid access and competition for electricity had weighed on the company’s assessment of locations in the United States and Europe.
Fourteen landowners have leased Green Capital a combined 130,000 hectares near Trelew in Chubut province, FourWeekMBA reported. Green Capital does not expect construction to begin until around 2028.
