{"name":"Applied AI in Uruguay — the record","description":"Every announced initiative, deployment, published result and regulation of applied AI on the record for Uruguay, tagged by kind, industry, region and role, sourced and dated. A slice of the State of Applied AI record, maintained continuously by the Industrial Research Unit of the Straits Institute for Applied AI.","source":"https://www.straitsai.institute/state-of-applied-ai/uruguay","partOf":"https://www.straitsai.institute/state-of-applied-ai/evidence.json","attribution":"Industrial Research Unit, Straits Institute for Applied AI","updated":"2026-10-29","facet":{"kind":"country","name":"Uruguay","slug":"uruguay","iso2":"UY","region":"Latin America & Caribbean"},"nationalStrategy":{"name":"Estrategia Nacional de Inteligencia Artificial 2024–2030","year":2024},"counts":{"entries":26,"deployments":10,"evidenceImpact":0,"evidenceAdoption":9,"regulation":7,"industries":8,"countries":1,"linked":26},"entries":[{"kind":"evidence-adoption","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Uruguay","org":"AI for Good Lab (Government of Uruguay, LATU and Microsoft)","text":"Uruguay's AI for Good Lab, run with LATU and Microsoft, logged 47 applications from 32 public bodies, 12 approvals, eight builds and 120 trainees by its 5 October results day, six months in. Its AI in public administration tools include education-ministry registry extraction, a chat helper on Ceibal's 2,000-plus-document wiki, UTE tender drafting and a Tribunal de Cuentas legal assistant. Three are done, five due this month; state AI projects' savings are undisclosed.","date":"2026-10-06","source":"https://riotimesonline.com/uruguay-ai-for-good-lab-microsoft-2026"},{"kind":"evidence-adoption","industry":"Business Operations","region":"Uruguay","org":"Microsoft AI Economy Institute (Global AI Diffusion Report Q2 2026)","text":"AI adoption in Uruguay reached 25.7% of 15-to-64-year-olds by June 2026, 1.1 points above 24.6% in Q1, against 18.8% worldwide. Microsoft's Global AI Diffusion study derives that generative AI use estimate from pooled, anonymised telemetry, corrected for operating-system and device mix, connectivity and headcount.","date":"2026-09-21","source":"https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Microsoft-AI-Diffusion-Report-2026-Q2.pdf"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"HR & People","region":"Uruguay","role":"Recruiter","org":"Banco Hipotecario del Uruguay (BHU)","text":"Banco Hipotecario del Uruguay (BHU) is screening 2026 administrative internship candidates through AI job interviews on the MeetPIA platform. The eliminatory video interviews run about 45 minutes without pauses between 11 and 15 September, scoring up to 30 points with 15 needed to pass. MeetPIA chief executive Martín Liguori says the system assesses and suggests while a person always decides.","date":"2026-09-10","source":"https://www.elobservador.com.uy/ciencia-y-tecnologia/el-bhu-entrevistara-avatares-inteligencia-artificial-los-candidatos-una-pasantia-administracion-n6056883"},{"kind":"evidence-adoption","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Uruguay","org":"Oficina Nacional del Servicio Civil (ONSC)","text":"Six courses and a diploma spanning three complexity tiers make up new AI training for civil servants, unveiled by Uruguay's National Civil Service Office. Teaching duties fall jointly to the National School of Public Administration and the Technological University, kicking off late October 2026 with no limit on basic-tier enrolment. This step advances public administration AI skills development nationwide.","date":"2026-09-09","source":"https://www.gub.uy/presidencia/comunicacion/noticias/capacitacion-enap-inteligencia-artificial-servicio%20civil-onsc"},{"kind":"evidence-adoption","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Uruguay","org":"UNESCO, OPP and Congreso de Intendentes","text":"Uruguay's Office of Planning and Budget, the Congress of Intendentes and UNESCO have signed a first-of-its-kind accord bringing AI training in government to officials across all 19 departmental administrations. Four representatives from each intendency will start the programme, then move toward building practical tools for management challenges. It is UNESCO's first such agreement with the country, aimed at strengthening public-sector AI adoption locally.","date":"2026-08-27","source":"https://floridadiario.com.uy/2026/08/27/uruguay-y-unesco-firman-el-primer-convenio-de-la-region-para-capacitar-a-las-19-intendencias-en-inteligencia-artificial/"},{"kind":"evidence-adoption","industry":"Technology & Software","region":"Uruguay","org":"Equipos Consultores","text":"Equipos Consultores finds half of Uruguay's adults have never used AI tools; a quarter are daily or fairly frequent users and the rest occasionally. AI use in Uruguay tracks education: almost nine in ten university graduates have tried it, but eight in ten people with only primary schooling never have. The survey of 705 adults on AI habits ran from 23 June to 8 July 2026.","date":"2026-08-20","source":"https://www.subrayado.com.uy/los-uruguayos-miran-mas-preocupacion-que-entusiasmo-el-creciente-uso-la-inteligencia-artificial-n1015896"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Uruguay","role":"Trademark examiner","org":"National Directorate of Industrial Property (DNPI)","text":"AI trademark examination has arrived at Uruguay's National Directorate of Industrial Property. Its in-house assistant scans submitted files—images, attorney authorisations, proof of payment—spots problems, and drafts notes that staff then confirm under this AI-assisted trademark registration approach.","date":"2026-07-29","source":"https://www.ipdefender.eu/en/blog/uruguay-ai-trademark-examination"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Uruguay","role":"Municipal citizen-service officer","org":"Intendencia de Florida","text":"Uruguay's Florida departmental government has launched Mi Portal Florida with FlorIA, an AI virtual assistant that guides users and answers common questions, on a single citizen portal for geolocated complaints, appointments and procedures. It aims to curb repetitive enquiries so staff can concentrate on resolving cases.","date":"2026-07-10","source":"https://www.carmeloportal.com/124015-florida-prueba-el-futuro-del-tramite-publico-una-intendencia-con-portal-unico-inteligencia-artificial-y-nuevos-desafios-ciudadanos"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Education & Training","region":"Uruguay","role":"School teacher","org":"Ceibal and ANEP","text":"Ceibal and education authority ANEP have added Gemini for Education (Plus version) and NotebookLM to the AI tools for teachers already in CREA and the Matific and Aleks maths platforms. Teachers may request data-protected institutional accounts, use is voluntary, and Ceibal's president promises monitoring and evaluation of the effects.","date":"2026-06-16","source":"https://www.gub.uy/presidencia/comunicacion/noticias/inteligencia-artificial-docentes-estudiantes-ceibal-anep-nuevas-2026"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Education & Training","region":"Uruguay","org":"Universidad de la República (Udelar)","text":"The governing council of Uruguay's public University of the Republic (Udelar) has approved university AI principles institution-wide. The document sees AI helping academic and administrative work and asks for transparent, ethical use; it puts 'general interest and centrality of the human person' first.","date":"2026-05-26","source":"https://ladiaria.com.uy/educacion/articulo/2026/5/udelar-aprobo-principios-rectores-para-el-uso-de-inteligencia-artificial-en-la-institucion/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Uruguay","role":"Social worker","org":"Ministerio de Desarrollo Social (MIDES)","text":"MIDES runs an AI parenting support chatbot on WhatsApp, Asistente Virtual de Crianza, answering Uruguayan parents on pregnancy and upbringing questions. This WhatsApp chatbot for childcare guidance draws on Uruguay Crece Contigo, the Ministry of Public Health, PAHO and UNICEF, and flags vulnerability signs to telecare staff.","date":"2026-05-21","source":"https://www.gub.uy/ministerio-desarrollo-social/comunicacion/publicaciones/asistente-virtual-crianza-informacion-confiable-para-buen-comienzo"},{"kind":"evidence-adoption","industry":"Education & Training","region":"Uruguay","org":"Ceibal / ANEP","text":"Three in four Uruguayan primary and secondary teachers now use AI in teaching day to day, finds a national Ceibal study published by education authority ANEP. Combining the National Teacher Survey and fieldwork, it found chatbots the most used tool, mainly for generating materials, designing activities and assessments, and preparing content.","date":"2026-05-12","source":"https://www.anep.edu.uy/en-uruguay-tres-cada-cuatro-docentes-utilizan-ia-para-generar-propuestas-educativas-pedagogicas"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Uruguay","org":"Presidencia de Uruguay","text":"Decree 276/025 sets AI sandbox testing environments rules in Uruguay, letting the Council of Ministers oversee pilot data and AI schemes under sandbox pilot projects standards. Fairness, non-discrimination, openness and data protection apply, implementing Articles 74-75 of Law 20.212.","date":"2025-12-02","source":"https://www.impo.com.uy/bases/decretos/276-2025/1"},{"kind":"evidence-adoption","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Uruguay","org":"Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID) with Agesic and ENAP","text":"Uruguay's Inter-American Development Bank (BID), alongside Agesic and the National School of Public Administration (ENAP), has rolled out a generative AI training for public officials programme open to anyone working in government, whatever their function. Roughly seven hours long and hosted online through February 2026, the syllabus mixes basic AI theory with hands-on exercises, prompt engineering and risk evaluation. A digital certificate and BID Credential await those who complete it, reflecting a broader regional effort at AI skills training for civil servants.","date":"2025-11-19","source":"https://www.gub.uy/agencia-gobierno-electronico-sociedad-informacion-conocimiento/comunicacion/noticias/curso-virtual-sobre-inteligencia-artificial-generativa-para-organismos"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Agriculture & Food","region":"Uruguay","role":"Farmer","org":"Vacampo","text":"Uruguay's Vacampo built CropIA, an AI precision agriculture tool overseeing 15,000 hectares. Satellites feed crop status, harvest trends and nutrient math into forecasts, giving growers an evidence-driven route to farm choices via AI in farming.","date":"2025-11-18","source":"https://valoragricola.com.uy/vacampo-apuesta-a-la-agricultura-de-precision-y-lanza-cropia-una-herramienta-con-inteligencia-artificial/"},{"kind":"evidence-adoption","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Uruguay","org":"Agesic (with PNUD/UNDP)","text":"Uruguay's Agesic and PNUD, the UN Development Programme, delivered AI training for government to public servants across national ministries over three days. Staff covered core concepts, ethical concerns and administration examples, then practised designing artificial intelligence for public administration tools directly. The work supports the country's wider national data and AI strategy.","date":"2025-11","source":"https://www.gub.uy/agencia-gobierno-electronico-sociedad-informacion-conocimiento/comunicacion/noticias/capacitacion-sobre-ia-para-organismos-del-estado"},{"kind":"evidence-adoption","industry":"Media, Telecom & Entertainment","region":"Uruguay","org":"Quatromanos","text":"Quatromanos polled over a hundred Uruguayan reporters: 60% have relied on AI in journalism, 26% habitually and 37.5% occasionally. Leading uses were converting interview audio to text (41.7%), background research (20.8%) and brainstorming angles (13.5%). Most AI-assisted reporting sits in groundwork, not the writing.","date":"2025-10-22","source":"https://www.qm.com.uy/seis-de-cada-diez-periodistas-uruguayos-emplean-herramientas-de-ia-en-su-trabajo/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Retail & Consumer","region":"Uruguay","role":"Marketing professional","org":"Supermercados TaTa","text":"A chatty grandmother persona powers IAIA, the generative AI retail assistant VML Uruguay built for Supermercados TaTa. It chats, fields queries and suggests goods, framing an AI shopping experience around warmth rather than pure transaction.","date":"2025-08-14","source":"https://www.produ.com/mercadeo/noticias/iaia-la-apuesta-de-vml-uruguay-y-tata-que-conecta-tecnologia-y-cercania-en-tienda/"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Uruguay","role":"Police officer / video surveillance operator","org":"Ministerio del Interior (Ministry of Interior, Uruguay)","text":"Uruguay's Ministry of Interior now runs AI video analytics for homeless detection through its Unified Command Centre (CCU), stood up amid a June cold emergency. Behavioural-recognition software flags patterns like lingering or pavement sleeping, prompting operators to send police and arrange shelter transfers — an automated method for spotting rough sleepers instead of manual street checks.","date":"2025-06-25","source":"https://www.gub.uy/presidencia/comunicacion/fotos/ministerio-del-interior-aplica-inteligencia-artificial-para-detectar-personas"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Education & Training","region":"Uruguay","role":"Teacher","org":"Ceibal","text":"Ceibal built AI lesson planning into its CREA learning platform, giving Uruguay's teachers a secure space to draft class materials with machine help. The feature, PowerBuddy, sits inside CREA and suggests activities and educational resources through AI-assisted content generation on request.","date":"2025-06-23","source":"https://ceibal.edu.uy/institucional/articulos/la-inteligencia-artificial-se-suma-a-crea/"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Uruguay","org":"Agencia de Gobierno Electrónico y Sociedad de la Información y del Conocimiento (Agesic)","text":"Uruguay AI policy takes shape as Agesic drafts legislation governing artificial intelligence use. The proposed law sets boundaries on permissible AI applications, prioritising citizens' rights protections, Daniel Mordecki told the Senate's Science, Innovation and Technology Committee. He called the effort consensus-driven, balancing rights safeguards against opportunities, reflecting AI governance in Uruguay.","date":"2025-06-18","source":"https://www.montevideo.com.uy/Ciencia-y-Tecnologia/Agesic-plantea-ley-sobre-inteligencia-artificial--que-contemplaria-la-regulacion--uc927330"},{"kind":"deployment","industry":"Agriculture & Food","region":"Uruguay","role":"Livestock farmer","org":"GanaderIA","text":"GanaderIA's AI-based livestock weighing app pairs drone imagery with algorithms to tally herds and estimate weights, under 5% margin of error, skipping physical scales. Uruguay's platform converts footage into batch averages and per-animal figures automatically — drone-based cattle counting that replaces manual handling with remote data capture.","date":"2025-02","source":"https://www.contextoganadero.com/ganaderia-sostenible/una-balanza-desde-el-aire-crean-app-para-pesar-vacas-con-drones"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Uruguay","org":"Agencia de Gobierno Electrónico y Sociedad de la Información y del Conocimiento (Agesic) and Comité Estratégico del Sector Público para la Inteligencia Artificial y Datos","text":"Agesic drafted Uruguay's AI governance strategy, the National AI Strategy for 2024–2030, under Article 74 of Law 20,212, and the Strategic Committee for the Public Sector for AI and Data signed off on it. Instead of leaving artificial intelligence use unchecked, the plan builds rules for ethical, safe and accountable systems alongside stronger technical skills and infrastructure. Officials cast this as a path to inclusive growth, sustainable development and better-run public services.","date":"2024-11-21","source":"https://www.gub.uy/agencia-gobierno-electronico-sociedad-informacion-conocimiento/comunicacion/publicaciones/estrategia-nacional-inteligencia-artificial-2024-2030"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Uruguay","org":"Agencia de Gobierno Electrónico y Sociedad de la Información y del Conocimiento (Agesic) and Unidad de Acceso a la Información Pública (UAIP)","text":"Uruguay's Agesic agency and the Access to Public Information Unit (UAIP) published the Recommendations on Algorithmic Transparency, algorithmic transparency public sector guidance, on 17 July, built under the Fifth National Open Government Action Plan 2021-2024. The document hands state bodies practical tools for explaining automated decisions, seeking to grow citizen confidence while meeting current access-to-information and disclosure law covering algorithms that public agencies run. This effort pushes AI transparency in government further by tying ethical, accountable system use to legal compliance obligations already in force.","date":"2024-07-17","source":"https://www.gub.uy/agencia-gobierno-electronico-sociedad-informacion-conocimiento/comunicacion/publicaciones/recomendaciones-sobre-transparencia-algoritmica"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Uruguay","org":"Parliament of Uruguay","text":"Uruguay AI regulation stems from Article 74 of Law No. 20,212, which tasks Agesic with building a national artificial intelligence and data strategy spanning public bodies and private firms, guided by international benchmarks. The rule demands fairness, non-discrimination, accountability, transparency, auditability and cautious innovation, plus respect for human dignity and democratic order. Within 180 days Agesic owes lawmakers a report proposing rules balancing ethical progress, human rights and Uruguayan AI policy innovation.","date":"2023-11-06","source":"https://www.impo.com.uy/bases/leyes/20212-2023/74"},{"kind":"regulation","industry":"Government & Public Sector","region":"Uruguay","org":"Agencia de Gobierno Electrónico y Sociedad de la Información y del Conocimiento (Agesic)","text":"Agesic's Guide for Algorithmic Impact Study (EIA) gives public-sector teams a structured algorithmic impact assessment method for automated decision-support systems built on machine learning. It helps project leads flag key risks and design considerations before deployment. The guide supports Uruguay's broader approach to AI governance impact assessment in government projects.","date":"2020-11-18","source":"https://www.gub.uy/agencia-gobierno-electronico-sociedad-informacion-conocimiento/comunicacion/publicaciones/guia-para-estudio-impacto-algoritmico"}]}