Uruguay AI Centre Opens in Montevideo on a US$10 Million Loan

Uruguay has opened a national artificial intelligence centre in Montevideo on Monday 7 September, marking a significant step in its AI policy. The venture, branded Instituto Vidart, was launched in the Los Ombues building at the LATU innovation park and is a product of a US$10 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank. The loan, spread across four and a half years, is managed by the center's executive director, Diego Garagorry, and scientific director, Matias Di Martino.

Instituto Vidart is a part of the Uruguay Innova programme, which is overseen by SENCI, the national science secretariat, and AGESIC, the digital government agency. The center is incubated by ANII, the national research and innovation agency, and is supported by LATU, Ceibal, Antel, and various universities. No single ministry owns the institute, a decision made to avoid a single point of control and align with Uruguay's collaborative approach.

The launch took eighteen months to materialize, during which Garagorry held over eighty meetings with more than two hundred people to define the institute's work.

The institute's initial projects are focused on early detection of autism and analysis of satellite images to identify crop types, with health, agriculture, and education as priority sectors. These projects are seen as narrow, measurable problems rather than general research. Uruguay's AI policy has been in development for years, and now it has an institution to back it up.

The country ranks 22nd globally in the 2026 Global Responsible AI Index, with a score of 56.99 out of 135 countries and jurisdictions, placing it third in South and Central America, behind Brazil and Chile. Uruguayan AI companies have been actively raising funds independently of the state, with six firms raising over US$26.3 million between 2023 and 2026, with Zapia leading at US$19.3 million.