Crusoe partners with Araico to bring hydro-powered AI cloud infrastructure to Paraguay

Paraguay is set to host Crusoe’s first dedicated AI cloud deployment in Latin America, placing computing infrastructure beside the Itaipú substation to draw on hydroelectric power. Crusoe announced the partnership with local energy and infrastructure developer Araico on October 22, 2026, with an initial deployment planned to come online in mid-2027.

The proposed facility would use electricity from the Itaipú Hydroelectric Dam, which Crusoe describes as a 100% renewable power source. Its location reflects the company’s stated approach of putting AI computing directly beside abundant energy supplies. The project is intended to serve both U.S. cloud customers and demand within Latin America through Crusoe Cloud.

Local development, Crusoe-operated computing

The partners have divided responsibility between the site and the computing equipment. Araico will lead local development and build the site infrastructure adjacent to the substation. Crusoe will supply, manage and operate the physical computing equipment used to deliver its cloud service.

That arrangement pairs Araico’s local infrastructure work with Crusoe’s AI infrastructure and cloud operations. The announcement puts Crusoe in charge of delivering the compute, not simply providing a brand for an Araico-operated service. For Araico, the stated goal is to turn Paraguay’s renewable electricity into a domestic high-tech business.

Crusoe was founded on a simple idea: build digital infrastructure where power is abundant, accessible and environmentally-aligned

Cully Cavness, Crusoe co-founder, president and chief strategy officer

106 MW is a scaling target, not opening-day capacity

Crusoe sets out a path to 106 megawatts of IT capacity—the power capacity assigned to computing equipment. It also identifies long-term options to expand to approximately 280 MW total. Those figures describe different stages of the proposal: a scaling target followed by a larger potential expansion.

The mid-2027 timing applies to the initial deployment, not to completion of either larger capacity figure. Crusoe has not specified the opening deployment’s size or a schedule for reaching the expansion targets. The announcement is therefore a development plan, rather than a claim that the site is already delivering cloud capacity.

Paraguay’s pitch goes beyond electricity sales

Paraguayan President Santiago Peña framed the partnership as a way to extract more value from the country’s natural resources. He said it would bring jobs, investment, technology and innovation, and create an opportunity for Paraguay to become a regional AI infrastructure leader. Those are the government’s expectations for the project, not outcomes already delivered.

Araico CEO Alejandro Zuccolillo made a similar case: pairing Itaipú’s hydroelectric capacity with Crusoe’s infrastructure operations would capture value from renewable power within Paraguay. He linked the project to high-tech industrial growth, local jobs and digital innovation, positioning the computing facility as an industrial development effort as well as a cloud deployment.

The signing also carried a diplomatic dimension. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau was leading an American business delegation in Paraguay when the agreement was signed. He said the project had the potential to become the country’s largest private foreign investment. That was a forecast about its possible scale; the announcement did not disclose an investment amount.