Rio AI City: start of the project for the largest data center hub in Latin America

Rio's deputy mayor, Eduardo Cavaliere, said on Monday (28/4), during the opening press conference of Web Summit 2025, that the “Rio AI City” project is in the initial phase of defining the area that will house the new artificial intelligence campus in the Olympic Park region, in Barra da Tijuca. Announced on Sunday (27/04) by mayor Eduardo Paes, the initiative foresees public-private partnerships for the installation of data centers with an initial capacity of 1,8 gigawatts by 2027, with an expected expansion to three gigawatts by 2032. The structure will have a dedicated supply of clean energy and water.

Invest.Rio, the City Hall's investment promotion agency, has begun negotiations with national and international investors to make the project viable. The goal is to transform Rio into the largest data center hub in Latin America and one of the ten largest in the world, with infrastructure focused on sustainable technology.

– We are preparing an operation to reallocate areas of the Olympic Park and adapt them to the architecture required for the installation of the new artificial intelligence campus. The region has the capacity to receive the infrastructure and energy that the project requires – said the deputy mayor.

The “Rio AI City” project will directly drive innovation through artificial intelligence. The initiative will also create ideal conditions for the installation of new supercomputers, such as the Santos Dumont, located at the LNCC (National Laboratory for Scientific Computing) and managed by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

With high resilience and the ability to transmit data in real time, “Rio AI City” will be directly connected to Porto Maravilha, reinforcing the objective of integrating technology and sustainable urbanization of the city.

Connecting the Olympic Park and Porto Maravilha: a sustainable future

Although “Rio AI City” is set to be located in the Olympic Park, its connection to Porto Maravilha will be crucial to consolidating an innovation ecosystem that seeks to integrate quality of life and technological advancement. The Mata Maravilha project, which will occupy more than 200 square meters in Porto Maravilha, will combine nature and technology. Among the planned attractions are a new marina, two parks, four hotels, green residential towers, a convention center, entertainment venues, restaurants and a shopping mall, creating an environment that will directly connect startups and companies to the computing power of “Rio AI City”.

Porto Maravilha is already an innovation center, with IMPA Tech, the main Brazilian institution in applied mathematics, and Porto Maravalley, an innovation hub that has established itself as a reference in Brazil.

Web Summit and the economic impact of R$1,8 billion by 2030

The Web Summit has been a platform for Rio's international projection, in addition to generating economic activity for the city. According to a study conducted by the City Hall, through Invest.Rio, Riotur and the Municipal Secretariat for Economic Development, the estimated economic impact of the eight editions of the event until 2030 is R$1,8 billion. For the 2025 edition, the expectation is that the local economy will receive more than R$170 million, with emphasis on the hospitality sector.

Eduardo Cavaliere highlighted the importance of the Web Summit remaining in Rio for the next five years.

– We are happy to announce that the Web Summit will be held for another five years. This is very important for the city, especially at this time of reflection on the future. Rio aims to attract more business and investment to the innovation and technology sector. The Web Summit is already helping to train local talent and promote Brazilian startups. We are already a reference in Latin America for major events and we want to be even better known as an innovation hub – said the vice-mayor of Rio.

The conference was attended by Web Summit CEO Paddy Cosgrave, Fecomércio RJ president Antonio Florêncio de Queiroz Junior, and Invest.Rio president Sidney Levy. The conference will run until next Wednesday (30/04), bringing together more than 34 participants per day and 500 speakers at Riocentro. The event's focus is to present innovation solutions and promote agreements between global investors, startups and technology talents.

– The Web Summit is a great opportunity to connect people, companies and ideas. Rio wants to be recognized not only as a host city for major events, but as a facilitator of business and innovation in the technology sector – highlighted the president of Invest.Rio.

Category:

• Invest.Rio
• News

April 28th 2025

Appointments: data centers Invest.Rio Rio AI City Web Summit 2025