Microsoft Opens LATAM’S First AI Lab in Uruguay

Microsoft unveiled an AI lab in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo, providing local entrepreneurs with technology resources to build new AI-powered products and services.

This is the first lab of its kind in Latin America and the third outside of the United States, with similar facilities in Shanghai (China) and Munich (Germany).

Con la presencia del presidente @LuisLacallePou, inauguramos el Microsoft AI Co-Innovation Lab ayer en Uruguay.
Este nuevo laboratorio es una oportunidad única para la innovación empresarial y productiva en nuestra región. #IA #IoT 🌐🤝 pic.twitter.com/rIBOe01La6

— Microsoft Latinoamérica (@MicrosoftLatam) June 22, 2023

Microsoft stated that its engineers at the lab will guide and support local businesses in developing new AI-powered products and improving their present products using artificial intelligence.

The lab will be open, which means that any Uruguayan tech company can use the resources in the facility, which is located within the LATU Technological Park.

“Artificial intelligence relies on an abundance of data, and smaller companies often do not have access to the data they need to solve problems effectively,” the Uruguayan authorities stated, emphasizing the importance of the lab’s open nature.

Microsoft is constantly expanding its AI assets, having purchased a number of AI firms such as Maluuba, Bonsai AI and GitHub Copilot.

It has also invested heavily in open-source AI initiatives like CNTK and Project Brainwave, and $1 billion in OpenAI, the firm that created ChatGPT.