Milei Courts US Data Centre Builders to Patagonia With Tax Cuts and No AI Rules

Milei has pushed for a tax break for the facilities and has promoted Argentina's "abundant energy" and "extensive, inhospitable land" as suited to a rapid AI buildout, according to Semafor. An energy executive planning a facility to power AI in rural Argentina told the Financial Times he had been flooded with calls from potential US investors and clients after the US midterm elections, in which voters resoundingly rejected data centre construction. "[Argentina's] coming late to the party, but it has huge potential to catch up," he told the newspaper.

The pitch puts Argentina in competition with other countries for AI infrastructure that US developers are finding harder to place at home. It also tests whether promising light regulation can outweigh investors' concerns about the country's history of economic instability.

Milei has been explicit about his approach. "We are not going to regulate artificial intelligence," he told the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, the Associated Press reported earlier this month. Visitor logs reviewed by the AP showed meetings between Milei or his aides and Peter Thiel, as well as representatives of OpenAI, Amazon, Google, Oracle and data centre companies. Crusoe, which helped build OpenAI's flagship campus in Texas, sought talks with Argentine energy officials, the AP reported.

The main incentive is a proposal to cut the corporate income tax rate from 25% to 15% for projects of at least $1 billion in AI and other emerging industries. The measure still needs Senate approval. According to the AP, it would not require companies to reserve any computing capacity for local use or to disclose how much energy and water their facilities consume.

Patagonia's case rests on open plains, a cold climate that helps cool servers, strong winds for power generation, and the Vaca Muerta shale formation as a source of gas for power plants. Pampa Energía plans gas-fired power for a data centre near Vaca Muerta.

The largest project described so far comes from Polish renewable energy company Green Capital, which plans a $3 billion data centre campus in Chubut province but has not yet signed a customer. Fourteen landowners have leased the company a combined 130,000 hectares, and construction is not expected until around 2028. At projected peak demand, the AP calculated, the campus would use about 2.7 times the electricity Buenos Aires consumed in 2025. "Argentina — well, Patagonia — came out on top in every category," Green Capital's Marta Zlotkowska said of the company's search for sites.

The plans have critics. Alan Rocha Varsanyi of the environmental group Observatorio Petrolero Sur told the AP that the projects are not meant to build Argentina's own technological capacity, because the computing power will be exported. Nicolás Wolovick of the National University of Córdoba warned that "without rules, Argentina will become a laboratory." In Trelew, a residents' group campaigning as "Trelew Free of Data Centers" has organised against the developments over concerns about water and other resources.

Politics could slow the effort. The opposition in Congress forced the government to gut a bill that would have eased limits on foreign land ownership. It has also stalled Milei's proposal to let AI agents control companies. The AP reported that some investors are waiting for the presidential election expected in 2027 before committing. Officials said others want clearer rules on training AI with copyrighted material and on sending personal data abroad.

The next concrete step is the Senate vote on the tax cut, which would set the terms for any large project that goes ahead.