Milei promises tech firms new laws and ‘unregulated’ AI in Argentina

President Javier Milei promised the world’s tech firms on Thursday that Argentina will create a special legal framework to foster the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Argentina, reaffirming his commitment to keeping the sector “unregulated.”

In an opinion piece published in British newspaper the Financial Times, the President pitched Argentina as a haven for the tech giants, vowing to let AI develop freely and realise its full potential “without the deadly hand of premature and poorly understood regulation.”

Milei drew a parallel between the present moment and the year 1602, when the creation of the Dutch East India Company introduced to the world the limited liability company, an innovation which – according to the President – “unleashed capitalism’s full potential” and led to the Industrial Revolution.

“As much as the industrial revolution freed us from the constraints of the human muscle, AI will free us from the constraints of the human brain, pushing productivity beyond our wildest dreams,” said the President in his column, which was co-written with Deregulation & State Transformation Minister Federico Sturzenegger.

Milei went on to address “AI agents,” autonomous systems or programmes run by Artificial Intelligence that do not require constant human supervision, arguing they required new laws.

“Companies run by new technologies such as AI agents require the same legal framework that has underpinned capitalism for over four centuries, one suitable for development and experimentation,” he argued.

On that basis, Milei outlined his government's plan to create a new category of corporate entity in legislation: the “non-human corporation,” entities operated entirely by AI agents or robots.

Outlining his initiative, the President stressed that its first pillar of his plan is a “commitment to keep AI unregulated so that it can develop freely, without the burden of premature and misguided regulation.”

Milei closed by extending an invitation to tech firms across the world to set up shop in Argentina, declaring: “We are open for business.”

“In the spirit of the Dutch merchants who made Amsterdam the financial capital of the 17th century, we intend to offer the most attractive legal and fiscal environment for the AI companies that will define the 21st.

“Let Buenos Aires become for AI what Amsterdam was for the age of sail – the place where the legal imagination caught up with the technological moment, and the world was changed,” concluded Milei.

Milei’s government has made Artificial Intelligence a central pillar of its strategy to attract foreign investment and diversify Argentina's economy. His government champions minimal regulatory intervention and has promoted Argentina as a potential regional hub for AI development and data-centre investment.

The approach has drawn criticism from some academics and civil society groups, who say Argentina has yet to develop a comprehensive framework addressing issues such as data protection, transparency and liability.

– TIMES/NA

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