OpenAI eyes Argentina for Latin America's first Stargate data center

Argentina is making a serious play to host Latin America’s first Stargate data center, with OpenAI and local energy developer Sur Energy signing a Letter of Intent last week to explore the massive infrastructure project. The talks followed meetings in Buenos Aires between President Javier Milei’s administration and an OpenAI delegation led by Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane.

Sur Energy would spearhead the consortium as the energy and infrastructure developer, partnering with a cloud infrastructure firm to build out the ecosystem. The pitch leans hard on Argentina’s renewable energy capacity — a critical selling point for power-hungry AI compute. OpenAI has expressed interest in becoming an offtaker, essentially a guaranteed customer for the facility’s output.

There’s genuine grassroots momentum behind the push. ChatGPT adoption in Argentina has more than tripled in the past year, with the heaviest use concentrated among 18-to-34-year-olds. The country also ranks among the top in Latin America for developers building on OpenAI’s tools, signaling an ecosystem that’s creating, not just consuming. That technical talent pool transforms Argentina from a passive market into a logical node for AI infrastructure.

Sam Altman framed the move as something bigger than concrete and server racks. “This milestone is about more than just infrastructure, it’s about putting AI into the hands of more people across Argentina,” he said, adding that President Milei’s vision for AI-driven growth is “unmistakable and strong.” Sur Energy partner Emiliano Kargieman called it a “historic opportunity” that combines renewable energy potential with critical AI infrastructure, positioning Argentina on the global digital map. The two sides are also discussing broader AI adoption across Argentina’s government through the OpenAI for Countries initiative — the kind of institutional integration that could lock in demand and political support. Whether this actually gets built depends on a lot more than an LOI, but Argentina is making a credible case that it’s ready to be something other than a spectator in the AI buildout.