Chinese technology major Huawei Technologies and TikTok owner ByteDance are preparing substantial investments in Brazil's cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence sectors, developments that may intensify US concerns regarding Beijing's expanding digital influence across Latin America, SCMP reported.

Brazilian newspaper Folha de S. Paulo reported that Huawei is poised to announce an agreement with Dataprev, a state-operated technology firm managing the nation's social data systems, to utilise its data centres.

Huawei is also negotiating with Edge UOL, a cloud services division of Grupo UOL PagSeguro, to launch cybersecurity and AI services across Brazil.

“We want to be the bridge between China and Latin America,” said Mark Chen, president of Huawei Cloud regional division, calling the Brazilian firm a “strategic service partner”.

The proposed expansions emerge as Washington has intensified warnings regarding Chinese investments in critical technology infrastructure across Latin America, highlighting risks of data theft, surveillance and strategic leverage.

US officials contend that Chinese companies, including Huawei and ByteDance, could be obligated under Beijing's national intelligence laws to surrender sensitive information, regardless of overseas data storage regulations.

ByteDance has faced US scrutiny over connections to AI platforms accused of tracking users and channelling information to China, whilst Huawei remains blacklisted by the US over alleged state surveillance links.

"The company [Huawei] is deeply tied not only to China but to the Chinese Communist Party. And that connectivity, the existence of those connections, puts American information that crosses those networks at risk," the first Trump administration said back in 2019 following Huawei's ban.

For its part, Huawei has consistently rejected allegations of government, military or intelligence service control from the Chinese government.

Brazil has long maintained a policy of "strategic non-alignment," seeking to balance relationships with both Washington and Beijing whilst prioritising economic growth and digital inclusion.

Brazil has positioned itself as an attractive destination for AI development, leveraging its clean energy resources and maintaining an open investment approach that puts it at odds with American national security-based restrictions. This stance has thrust the nation into the centre of escalating technological competition between Washington and Beijing.

But the country has rebuffed US calls to block Chinese technology firms, citing cost, development requirements, and energy benefits.

Meanwhile, TikTok's parent company is also reportedly examining new data centre projects in Brazil, including discussions for a facility in Ceara involving a 300-megawatt data centre with potential to triple in scale, alongside renewable energy provider Casa dos Ventos.