One of the major findings was the progress of countries such as Costa Rica, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and Guatemala, which made significant gains in connectivity, training and national AI strategies.
The report says this trend shows that education reforms and institutional openness can accelerate technological maturity even in mid-sized economies.
However, it also warns that the region continues to face major gaps in infrastructure, governance and specialized talent, which could widen the digital divide in the coming years.
The study, conducted by Chile's National Center for Artificial Intelligence with support from universities, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and the European Union, measures three main dimensions: enabling factors (infrastructure, talent and data); research, development and adoption; and governance. Each country receives a score out of maximum 100 based on its digital maturity and AI policies.
Costa Rica stands out as a regional leader in AI skills and in integrating the subject into school curricula, alongside Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay.
In Colombia, meanwhile, self-taught learning has played a key role: the country leads digital education on platforms such as Coursera, driving technological literacy beyond traditional systems.
Despite these advances, the report warns that basic literacy still far exceeds advanced training. Thirteen of the 19 countries surveyed do not yet offer doctoral programs in AI, and the shortage of specialized talent limits developing local solutions.
The study found that Brazil accounts for more than 90% of the region's high-performance computing capacity, underscoring a strong concentration of technology.
Only Uruguay, Costa Rica and Colombia show competitive per-capita levels of graphics processing unit.
By contrast, 11 countries still score below 50 points in digital infrastructure, restricting the growth of robust AI ecosystems.
Adding to that, the report highlights a persistent data bottleneck. Although the region generates large volumes of information, only a few countries -- including Chile and Mexico -- have made progress in opening and standardizing their data.
"Without real data availability, algorithmic decisions can be biased and public policies less effective," the report said.
During presentation of the index, National Center for Artificial Intelligence manager Rodrigo Durán warned that although Latin America is making progress, the gap with the major technology powers of the Global North is widening rapidly.
About 68% of active AI researchers are based in Brazil and Mexico, while Chile and Brazil produce 90% of the region's high-impact academic publications.
The report also highlights limited public participation in using AI for citizen consultations or policy co-creation -- tools with the potential to strengthen digital democracy. Only Mexico, Colombia and Peru have made concrete progress in this area.
Despite these challenges, the report's authors argue that AI represents an unprecedented opportunity for inclusion and productivity. Unlike past industrial revolutions, its adoption does not depend on complex production structures.
The challenge, they conclude, is to align digitalization with sustainable development and regional cooperation by strengthening infrastructure, talent and governance.
"Latin America already accounts for 15% to 20% of the global market for generative AI applications but only 1% of global investment. That imbalance shows the enormous potential still to be tapped," said Álvaro Soto, director of the artificial intelligence center.
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