Appropriation vs Autonomy: The Latin American Dilemma
The new Chinese Digital Silk Road to LATAM could find greater space in the emptiness left by crumbling multilateralism and traditional alliances weakened by trade wars. The wave of export controls issued by the Trump administration is aimed at slowing China down on its path to Artificial General Intelligence. But will that be enough contingency?
First, DeepSeek has stunned techies and markets by releasing competitive AI models at a fraction of the cost of American rivals, showing that the Chinese model for top-down execution can be equally effective and more resourceful. Second, the battle for chips is crucial yet only in front of the war for technological supremacy. China started building its policies of coercion and appropriation well before its rivals, anticipating that value-based alliances would be replaced by interest-based ones.
It is possible that some allies will decide that, although they prefer the US, China is at least more predictable. That would be an insane position for these countries to be in. But it would be the almost inevitable result of Trump’s gangsterish approach to international relations.
Martin Wolf Financial Times
The new Cold War is much hotter on more fronts and with more players than the US and China wanting to take the stage. Take India, which now ranks in the top 5 in 45 of 64 technologies deemed critical by ASPI. Take Saudi Arabia and the UAE, spending hundreds of billions of petro-dollars to become technological and geopolitical hubs. This might change now, with geopolitics being more populous and driven by more selfish interests.
Regime type no longer appears to hinder a sense of shared interests. It is hard power only, and a return to the ancient principle that "the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must." In such a world, multilateral institutions such as NATO and the EU would be sidelined and the autonomy of smaller nations threatened.
Monica Duffy Toft Foreign Affairs
With less West and more Rest contending for tech dominance, Latin America will surely be a new battleground for innovation. Who appropriates what remains to be seen.
Our objective with the LADP is to present a holistic perspective on the state of Deep Tech and provide critical insights into the scaling challenges for the region. More importantly, we aim to present a practical series of recommendations on what we as a region must do to advance the investment landscape into the technologies that will shape our future. This process involves the meticulous development of robust intellectual property and a lengthy, strategic technology transfer from academia to the commercial sector, setting the indispensable foundation for groundbreaking, commercial innovation.
Successfully bridging this critical gap necessitates sustained investment and tailored support mechanisms, facilitating the arduous yet rewarding journey from scientific discovery to market-ready solutions. By systematically nurturing this intricate ecosystem, the region can unlock its full potential, transforming cutting-edge research into tangible economic growth and global leadership in Deep Tech.