The Feasibility of Training Sovereign Language Models in the Global South: A Study of Brazil and Mexico
The rapid escalation of computational requirements for training large-scale language models has reinforced structural asymmetries between high-capacity jurisdictions and countries in the Global South. This paper examines the technical and fiscal feasibility of sovereign-scale language model training in Brazil and Mexico under conditions of constrained hardware access, energy availability, and fiscal ceilings. Using a dual-axis design that varies accelerator generation (NVIDIA H100 vs. A100) and training duration (90 vs. 150 days), we estimate compute demand, energy consumption, capital expenditures, and regulatory compatibility for the training of a 10-trillion-token model. Our findings show that while all configurations remain below export-control and electrical infrastructure thresholds, fiscal viability is determined by hardware efficiency. H100-based scenarios achieve training feasibility at a total cost of 8-14 million USD, while A100 deployments require 19-32 million USD due to higher energy and hardware demand. We argue that extending training timelines should be treated as a policy lever to mitigate hardware constraints, enabling the production of usable, auditable, and locally aligned models without competing at the global frontier. This study contributes to the discourse on AI compute governance and technological sovereignty by highlighting context-sensitive strategies that allow middle-income countries to establish sustainable and strategically sufficient AI capabilities.
Code (0)
등록된 구현이 없습니다.
Similar Papers 제목 키워드 기반
Good-Bye Original Sin, Hello Risk On-Off, Financial Fragility, and Crises?
We analyze the sovereign bond issuance data of eight major emerging markets (EMs) - Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and Turkey from 1970 to 2018. Our analysis suggests that (i) EM local curr…
SEATauBench: Adapting Tool-Agent-User Evaluation Into Low-Resource Southeast Asian Languages
While AI development and evaluation for Southeast Asia (SEA) has grown rapidly, agent capabilities in regional languages are still poorly understood despite its importance to sovereign AI. To fill this gap, we introduce …
Domain AdaptationAI, Global Governance, and Digital Sovereignty
This essay examines how Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems are becoming more integral to international affairs by affecting how global governors exert power and pursue digital sovereignty. We first introduce a taxonomy…
Sovereign AI: Rethinking Autonomy in the Age of Global Interdependence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a foundational general-purpose technology, raising new dilemmas of sovereignty in an interconnected world. While governments seek greater control over it, the very foundations …
Assessing Socio-Cultural Alignment and Technical Safety of Sovereign LLMs
Recent trends in LLMs development clearly show growing interest in the use and application of sovereign LLMs. The global debate over sovereign LLMs highlights the need for governments to develop their LLMs, tailored to t…