In the race to install data centers focused on artificial intelligence, Brazilian municipalities have closed deals with companies that have presented documentation problems and made decisions even before seeing studies on environmental impacts. The projects also repeat the misinformation playbook applied throughout Latin America by making promises of jobs and investment that are unlikely to be fulfilled.
Caucaia (CE), Eldorado do Sul (RS), Maringá (PR), and Uberlândia (MG) are cities that recently announced lavish investments in the sector, but now face legal and administrative challenges that cast doubt on the viability of the initiatives.
Two municipalities, for example, closed a deal with the company RT-One, which, in 2024, pretended to be a partner of Intel to sign a letter of intent with the government of the Federal District for the installation of a data center in Brasília. One of the company's partners even posed as a vice president of Intel during the signing.
The Brazilian Federal Prosecutor's Office (MPF), an independent body responsible for defending public interests, and state agencies are also investigating the projects for lack of transparency and omissions regarding the water and electricity impacts in the regions where they will be installed.
Biographical Contradictions
Despite being about 700 km apart, Uberlândia (MG) and Maringá (PR) will host data centers from the same company: RT-One. The projects indicate facilities that will reach 400 MW of capacity — but which, in the initial phases, will be limited to 100 MW.
Despite calling itself a "multinational," Aos Fatos did not identify any RT-One data center in another country. On the official website, only the two projects that have not yet left the drawing board are highlighted (see below).
The mayors themselves announced the projects as the arrival of a multinational company in their respective cities. Paulo Sérgio (PP, Progressive Party, a right-wing party), mayor of Uberlândia, in a publication in July 2025, for example, said that the project consolidates the arrival of the "North American company RT-One, a milestone for the development of our city."
RT-One, however, has been registered in São Paulo, in Vila Ipojuca, since December 2024. In the same location, until 2021, an electronics import company called Gamernuc operated. RT-One's CEO, Fernando Palamone, was also a managing partner of Gamernuc.
On LinkedIn, Palamone says he held leadership positions in several international companies, such as JSR North America, PDF Solutions, and Citrix. His last job before founding RT-One was reportedly as COO and vice president of Intel, where he allegedly worked between 2022 and 2024. This information is incorrect, according to Aos Fatos' investigation with the company:
"The information presented on his LinkedIn profile regarding his time as an Intel employee overestimates and alters his position and responsibilities. He is not COO of Intel Corporation and has never held that position," explained Intel's press office in a statement sent to Aos Fatos.
The multinational also said that it sued RT-One in 2024 after an episode involving another data center:
- In August of that year, the government of the Federal District, the local executive authority for the capital Brasília, announced that it had signed a letter of intent with Intel for the installation of a data center in the federal capital;
- But Intel did not participate in the negotiation. According to the company's press office, the multinational was falsely represented by Palamone, who presented himself as COO and VP of Intel, positions he never held;
- In the agreement, Intel (falsely represented by Palamone) stated that the local partner would be RT-One, represented at that time by Ricardo Pimentel, another partner of RT-One;
- Intel said that, upon learning of the incident, it "took appropriate legal measures to cease the misuse of the company's name, prevent the spread of false information, and protect the company's reputation."
Aos Fatos questioned the government of the Federal District to find out the status of the project and whether the agreement was still in place, but received no response. Contacted by the news outlet, the CEO of RT-One said that he does not comment on rumors about his company.
Judicialization
One concern regarding data center projects is their socio-environmental impact: these structures consume substantial energy, significant amounts of water to power their cooling systems, and occupy very large areas.
This impact was, in fact, what generated lawsuits in some of the cases analyzed: in Uberlândia, for example, the MPF opened a civil inquiry to investigate possible environmental damage from the project. The prosecutor highlighted that, according to information released in the press, the center would consume energy equivalent to 1.6 million homes. The document also cited that, in Maringá, RT-One admitted the possibility of drawing water from the subsoil to cool its data center.
The inquiry then requested information on water and energy consumption of the announced establishment. There is no record of a response from RT-One in the documents obtained by Aos Fatos.
The only company that responded stating that studies had been conducted was Cemig (Companhia Energética de Minas Gerais). The state-owned company stated that its survey “concluded that the regional electrical system has adequate technical conditions to absorb the additional load requested [by the data center], without compromising the quality and continuity of local and regional supply.”
The company, however, said that the impact of energy or water shortages at the national level is not its concern.
In Caucaia, in addition to the possible impacts on local water and energy, what prompted the Public Prosecutor's Office was the complaint that the TikTok data center — previously led by Casa dos Ventos, but now managed by Pátria Investimentos — would be installed “on traditional lands of the Anacés Indians.”
The process, initiated by the MP-CE (Public Prosecutor's Office of the State of Ceará), was referred to the MPF (Federal Public Prosecutor's Office) because it involved the territories of indigenous peoples. The federal body then carried out a technical assessment that identified that the environmental license presented to install the TikTok data center was "inadequate, insufficient and inadmissible." The MPF pointed out that the energy demand was very high and that there was no proof of water availability from the underground water source that would supply the center.
After the publication of the expert report, Funai (National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples), the federal agency responsible for indigenous affairs, requested the government of Ceará to suspend the installation license for the data center.
The companies responsible for the project deny any irregularity.
In Eldorado do Sul, the MPF also sent official letters to the bodies responsible for the project that was announced in the city by Scala. In June, the company reported that there were still no licenses because the project was still in the planning phase.
Even without any study or document attesting to the socio-environmental responsibility of the project, the City Council approved a law in December 2024 that creates a data center hub in the municipality and facilitates the licensing of similar projects.
Contacted by Aos Fatos, Scala reaffirmed that the project has not yet moved forward and "is still in the validation phase." The data center is also not listed on the company's official website.
False promises
AI-focused data center projects in Brazil also follow the misinformation playbook that has been exploited to install these structures throughout Latin America: promises of local development, the creation of hundreds of jobs, and billions of dollars in investments in the cities where they will be installed.
International experiences, however, reveal that data centers are not as beneficial as they promise. In addition to not delivering the local development and the number of jobs that would be generated, some cities still suffer from the high water and energy consumption of these structures. Several populations in other countries have even managed to block or even ban similar projects.
In all cases analyzed by Aos Fatos, the companies responsible, the city halls, and enthusiastic councilors highlight the billions of dollars in investments that will be made in the data centers.
“These are billions in investments, billions indeed. So it's money that will stay in our municipality, that will reach health, that will reach education, that will reach sports, that will reach everything, all areas of the city,” said councilman Ckauê Franklin (PSDB, Brazilian Social Democracy Party, historically center-right), president of the Economic, Industrial, Commercial and Services Development Commission of Caucaia, to Aos Fatos.
What the companies don't say is that a large part of this amount doesn't go to the municipality: it is estimated that about 60% of the investment is spent on the equipment that powers the center and that is, mostly, imported.
In some cases — Caucaia and Maringá — the data centers will even be installed in EPZs (Export Processing Zones). Companies in these locations benefit from a special customs regime and tax exemption as long as they produce goods with the intention of exporting them. This means that the data center's output will not be destined for the city or even for Brazil..
Other projects should take advantage of Redata (Special Tax Regime for Data Center Services), a project created by the federal government through Provisional Measure 1,318/2025, a type of temporary executive decree with the force of law, which has not yet been approved by Congress.
The program grants tax benefits — such as exemption from PIS/Cofins and import taxes — to data centers in exchange for commitments such as clean energy, low water usage, and making at least 10% of data processing capacity available to the domestic market.
Job creation is another promise common to all four data centers. Casa dos Ventos, for example, promised to generate 15,000 jobs during construction and 500 jobs after installation. RT-One, meanwhile, stated that its data centers would employ 20 to 30 people per megawatt, far exceeding the observed industry average.
The promise of employment has been particularly attractive in Eldorado do Sul. According to the city hall itself, the project will generate 3,000 jobs, which, in the view of the administration, is a highlight in a city that was severely affected by the floods in 2024: about 90% of the municipality was affected and tens of thousands of families had to leave their homes.
"Many people have put their properties up for sale and, as a result, they are devalued. I think the community of Eldorado that is thinking about selling their properties and leaving the municipality should rethink this situation because, certainly, in a short period of time, they will appreciate beyond what they imagine," said Mayor Ernani Gonçalves (PDT, Democratic Labour Party, a center-left party) when the project was signed.
'Haste makes waste'
The problems presented in the projects seem to show that decision-making by the public authorities has been hampered by the rush to install data centers across the country.
Brazil has been coveted by companies in the sector because it has one of the cleanest energy matrices in the world and a large production—today we produce more energy than we consume. Additionally, the country boasts one of the world's greatest water availabilities.
But, despite the attractiveness, businesspeople and lobbyists in the sector argue that Brazil should offer tax and regulatory benefits if it wants to host data centers. And it should do so quickly, since there is a global race for these structures underway.
"A sense of urgency is important. This asset that we have, this great commodity called energy, has an extreme value today. The world needs it today because the world has not prepared itself with the necessary infrastructure for data centers." — Marcos Peigo, CEO of Scala Data Centers.
The effort has been employed, including by the federal government. In addition to Redata, for example, the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, traveled to the US in 2025 to try to attract R$ 2 trillion in investments over the next 10 years.
According to RT-One CEO Fernando Palamone, in an interview with Aos Fatos, the federal government also participated in the research stages and has been helping companies with technical support.
Palamone also said that state and municipal governments have also been helpful in ensuring that projects are implemented sustainably and with less risk.
In a search on the Transparent Agenda, for example, it is possible to see the alignment of interests between the spheres: RT-One representatives accompanied the former Minister of Health and current Secretary of Industry of Paraná, Ricardo Barros, in a meeting with Vice President Geraldo Alckmin in January 2025.
In the case of Paraná, Mayor Silvio Barros (PP) expropriated an area in Maringá where an aircraft factory was previously planned — announced in 2013, but which never materialized — for the installation of a ZPE and, consequently, the installation of the data center. Ricardo Barros has even helped to promote the project.
Statements
RT-One
RT-One develops advanced technological infrastructure focused on cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and high-performance data processing. As part of this commitment, the company conducts its projects based on rigorous governance processes, regulatory compliance, and environmental responsibility.
All of the company's projects are structured in accordance with current legislation and applicable standards for the digital infrastructure sector. RT-One also maintains internal technical, legal, and environmental review procedures to ensure that its operations are conducted responsibly and in line with international best practices.
Regarding the mentions involving Intel, RT-One clarifies that it is unaware of any legal proceedings involving its CEO. Should any institutional issue arise, the company trusts that it will be handled directly between the parties through the appropriate channels.
The company emphasizes that it operates with high standards of integrity, transparency, and corporate responsibility. Information that does not accurately reflect the facts will be addressed through appropriate institutional channels.
RT-One remains focused on executing its projects and expanding high-performance digital infrastructure, contributing to the strengthening of the technological and innovation ecosystem.
This report was produced with the support of a research grant from the Tarbell Center for AI Journalism.
The path of the investigation
Aos Fatos interviewed politicians and requested documentation from all the companies and municipalities mentioned. We also questioned the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office and the state Public Prosecutor's Offices about any lawsuits and investigations involving the structures planned to be installed in the four cities.
Regarding RT-One, we contacted Intel, verified the information released in the statement, and gave Fernando Palamone the opportunity to comment on the allegations.
