Brazil is among the 29 nations that signed the founding document of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (Waico), announced in July of this year, with its headquarters in Shanghai, China. The initiative aims to develop global AI governance through open-source models, which allow any company or organization to adapt the technology.

The China-led initiative contrasts with the United States’ plan for the future of AI, known as Pax Silica, which brings together “trusted allies” of the White House to control supply chains for semiconductors, critical minerals, and energy.

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Artificial intelligence experts consulted by Agência Brasil point out that Waico represents an opportunity for Brazil to develop its own digital sovereignty. However, to achieve this, Brazil should “do its homework,” as explained by sociologist Sérgio Amadeu da Silveira, a professor at the Federal University of ABC (UFABC), in São Paulo.

The sociologist maintains that Brazil is a sufficiently large country, with university research centers unlike those found in most other nations – which places the country in a privileged position for AI development.

“Brazil can find a path to development that is more autonomous and more independent. Without a doubt, Brazil should strengthen its alliance with China, but we have to develop our own strategy,” he said.

Professor Amadeu added that, if Brazil does not develop its critical AI infrastructure – while also maintaining sovereignty over the data produced in the country – it will not be possible to benefit from cooperation with China to absorb that knowledge.

As an example, the professor said that if he were to receive BRL 10 million to develop AI projects at the university, he would have to spend BRL 5 million just on cloud storage contracts provided by big tech companies like Amazon, or even by the Chinese company Huawei.

“I don’t have the infrastructure available here that would allow researchers, universities, and the government itself to spend resources building expertise and infrastructure in our country for data processing and storage, which would give us significant computing power – instead of propping up foreign big tech companies,” he pointed out.

Ettore Arpini, an expert in AI governance and founder of Plures – an organization that supports the training of professionals in AI – emphasized that Brazil is well-positioned to be a key player in the geopolitics of AI because of its ability to navigate between Chinese and Western initiatives.

“The most important thing is for Brazil not to view AI as a sector-specific issue. An AI policy alone is not enough, just as simply regulating this market is not enough. We must understand it as a geopolitical and economic advantage, and also as a potential driver of prosperity for our people – an opportunity that rarely arises in a country’s history,” he concluded saying.

Brazil in the geopolitics of AI

The Brazilian government has maintained that the country cannot become dependent on any single model – whether Chinese or Western – arguing that it has engaged in dialogue with all initiatives that could help Brazil achieve digital sovereignty.

In multilateral forums, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has argued that AI cannot “become the privilege of a few countries or a tool for manipulation in the hands of billionaires.” According to the president, “we need intergovernmental governance of AI, in which all governments have a seat at the table.”

Experts have emphasized that AI is a technology that will permeate all sectors of economic life, just as electricity and the internet did.

Present at the launch of Waico in Shanghai, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres stated that AI could be “humanity’s greatest opportunity in the 21st century,” but it “could also become one of its greatest risks.”

“The technology that will shape humanity’s future must be shaped by all of humanity. It cannot be governed by a handful of countries or a handful of companies. All nations need a seat at the table,” said the UN chief.

Pax Silica

The vision of an AI governed by all countries runs counter to the US vision for the future of technology, which Washington views as one of the pillars of the global power structure. For this reason, the White House is attempting, through Pax Silica, to control the supply chains for critical minerals, data, and energy that enable AI to function.

The Trump administration’s view on the matter was outlined in an article published by US Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg.

He criticized the concept of “digital sovereignty” advocated by the UN and several countries, including Brazil.

“[The UN] presses toward a world in which every country commands what the Secretary-General’s own reports call an ‘irreducible minimum’ of artificial intelligence—its own computers, its own data, its own models, raised at home and owned at home,” he wrote.

Helberg adds that the idea is appealing but counterproductive. In his view, other countries and governments will reap greater benefits if they take advantage of the infrastructure already built by tech giants.

“[If they follow the path laid out by the UN, countries]  will have achieved not so-called “digital sovereignty” but a kind of synchronized mediocrity—a planet of subscale clones, each heroically reconstructing last year’s breakthrough while the breakthrough itself moves on without them. While others rebuild the present, American firms will be inventing the future,” the US under secretary of state argued.

China has taken another step toward expanding the entry of Brazilian products into its market by providing the necessary procedures for exporting frozen fruit and fruit pulp produced in Brazil.

The measure allows interested Brazilian companies to begin the authorization process to sell these products to China.

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According to the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, the General Administration of Customs of China has incorporated into its system the health certificate template that will be required for Brazilian exports of frozen fruit and fruit pulp.

“As a result, interested businesses can now apply for registration through the China Import Food Enterprise Registration system, a mandatory step for accessing the Chinese market,” the ministry reported.

The authorization applies to products derived from fruit species already recognized as food by Chinese authorities. These include açaí, mango, guava, pineapple, and passion fruit, as well as other fruits permitted for human consumption in China.

Under Chinese regulations, fruits that have not yet been recognized as food remain subject to specific regulatory procedures outlined in local legislation governing novel foods.

Guidelines

Registration in the Chinese system must be completed directly by the exporting company, which is responsible for submitting the required documentation.

After review and approval by the Chinese authorities, the company receives a registration number, which is required to ship goods to the Asian country.

Exports must also be accompanied by the official health certificate agreed upon between Brazil and China.

Before beginning the registration process, the Ministry of Agriculture advises exporters to review the requirements and procedures established by the Chinese authorities.

Once China’s General Administration of Customs has approved the registration and the competent Brazilian authority has issued the certificate, sales may proceed as per the applicable requirements.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke for over an hour by phone on Sunday evening (Jul. 26). In addition to discussing the integration of national development projects, the leaders also addressed the formalization of a free trade zone involving the two countries.

The Brazilian government stated that the presidents “agreed on the importance of accelerating negotiations for a Mercosur–China agreement that includes the necessary levels of flexibility.”

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Expanding cooperation in strategic and high-tech areas – such as artificial intelligence, satellites, the processing of critical minerals, and the fertilizer trade – was a focus of the shared objectives outlined by the two presidents.

In addition to noting the positive trade balance between the two nations, Lula and Xi Jinping spoke highly of the results of ongoing bilateral initiatives, such as the visa waiver for short-term visits – in effect in both countries since May of this year – and the programs designed to deepen mutual understanding between Brazilians and the Chinese, promoted through the celebrations of the 2026 Brazil–China Cultural Year.

Global conflicts and their impacts on people’s lives, as well as global food and energy security, were highlighted by the two leaders as key challenges on the global agenda.

“The presidents expressed deep concern about the ongoing humanitarian situation in Gaza,” the statement reads.

Lula and Xi Jinping also agreed that restrictions on free navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait have harmful effects on the global economy.

The leaders highlighted the role of the Group of Friends of Peace – a diplomatic initiative led by the two countries at the UN, aimed at seeking a peaceful resolution to conflicts through dialogue among countries of the Global South – for ending the war in Ukraine.

Although they criticized the United Nations Security Council’s inability to respond adequately to conflicts, the presidents reiterated their commitment to defending multilateralism and their intention to act in a coordinated manner in international forums.