The announcement by the US government and major AI companies to establish voluntary self-regulation and safety controls for the development of the technology represents a “free pass” for the industry, potentially posing risks to public health and democracy in various countries.

This is the assessment of sociologist Sérgio Amadeu, a professor at the Federal University of ABC (UFABC) and the author of works on digital technologies.

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“What Trump did was to completely and irresponsibly hand over democratic control of AI development to the very corporations that develop it. This is a gigantic risk,” Amadeu said.

The agreement, signed Tuesday (Sep. 29) at the White House with OpenAI, Meta, Anthropic, Google, Nvidia, and X (formerly Twitter), includes the implementation of “internal controls” to monitor AI models. The controls are intended to “ensure that their models do not intrude upon or access technical systems in unintended ways.”

“This is already being done. The entire AI training process requires robust oversight, and internal monitoring is already in place. None of this adds anything significant to the regulation and control of the improper use and development of machine learning and deep learning,” Amadeu added.

Regarding the proposal for independent external audits of AI companies, the UFABC professor argues that the audits would be paid for by the companies themselves.

“To what extent will this external auditor, paid by the company itself, offer criticism and suggestions that could cause discontent among the companies’ boards of shareholders?” the professor asked.

Fragile benefits

Ettore Arpini, an AI governance expert and founder of Plures - an organization that supports the training of professionals in the AI field - told Agência Brasil that the voluntary agreement among AI companies could yield real benefits.

However, he warns that the commitment could be abandoned once the safeguards become commercially detrimental.

Arpini cites the example of the Amazon Soy Moratorium, a voluntary agreement involving companies in the sector that committed to refraining from planting soybeans in the Amazon and preventing deforestation of the biome.

“This worked for 20 years on a voluntary basis, until the political and economic environment changed and the participating companies withdrew from the agreement, causing the moratorium to fail. What happens if a company fails an audit or withdraws from the pact?” he asked.

Public health

Sociologist Sérgio Amadeu points out that AI poses environmental risks due to its high energy and water consumption, privacy risks due to its capacity for mass surveillance of populations, as well as risks to democracy and public health.

He explains that various research projects conducted in the pharmaceutical industry in partnership with big tech companies using AI models may pose risks to public health and therefore require government regulation.

“We know that when the use of AI is controlled solely by investors, it poses a huge risk to experiments,” he commented.

Among the risks, the expert cites the possibility that the use of AI could lead people to self-medicate or even use the technology to diagnose themselves.

Social concerns

The Trump administration has refused to impose limits on AI development, despite requests from the industry itself and pressure from civil society in the United States.

An opinion poll conducted by Ipsos and Reuters found that 73 percent of Americans believe AI companies are not taking sufficient measures to prevent the technology from harming society, while 39 percent think that AI is having a negative impact on society.

One of the identified risks is that these systems could make cyberattacks easier to carry out by hacking into the systems of other companies and institutions. Other risks associated with AI include its impact on the labor market and the “malicious” use of the technology by criminals to conduct cyber scams.

Democracy

AI can also be used to influence public opinion by manipulating information circulating on social media, according to the International AI Safety Report 2026, prepared by 100 experts from more than 30 countries.

“Several laboratory studies have shown that interaction with AI systems can lead to measurable changes in people’s beliefs,” the report notes.

Another risk highlighted in the report relates to the development of chemical and biological weapons.

“General-purpose AI systems can provide information on the development of biological and chemical weapons, including details on pathogens and specialized laboratory instructions,” the international report states.

A Brazilian government task force took down 506 websites suspected of illegally offering online betting following the issuance of a provisional measure banning so-called bets, or online gambling. A network promoting online betting with 212,000 users on Telegram is also being monitored.

The Ministry of Justice and Public Security reported that it has expanded its monitoring of the online betting market in the digital environment following the publication of the provisional measure banning bets, through a joint task force with the Ministry of Finance.

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“The effort aims to block access to platforms operating without authorization and prevent new addresses from being used to offer betting services to the Brazilian public,” the Ministry of Justice stated in a press release.

A report by the Ministry’s Cyber Operations Laboratory (Ciberlab) found that betting advertisements continued to circulate on Meta and Google platforms, as well as on TikTok. The ads encouraged new sign-ups with offers of bonuses and incentives such as “invite friends and earn BRL 888.00” and “Earn BRL 50.00 for free.”

The provisional measure published on Friday (25) sets a ten-day deadline for the removal of advertisements already in circulation and prohibits any new ads.

On Google, 1,900 betting ads were identified.

“It was not possible to distinguish, within this set, which ads were new and which were already active before the ban,” the ministry’s report states.

Ciberlab announced that it will continue to monitor the platforms to verify compliance with the law and called on big tech companies to take measures to detect pages with concealed identities and masked links.

Meta

On Meta, Ciberlab identified seven ads, two of which began running while the provisional measure was in effect. The document from the Ministry of Justice agency requests that Meta be notified to take down the ads that began running after the provisional measure was published.

“Some ads used page names different from the displayed brands and links whose domain also did not match the advertised brand. The report notes that these elements may indicate concealment of the actual advertiser and the destination of the traffic,” Ciberlab reported.

According to the Ministry of Justice, the actions against the 506 suspicious websites and the monitoring of betting advertisements are part of the “strategy to prevent betting services from continuing through new domains, ads, apps, and other channels in the digital environment.”

Telegram

The Brazilian government’s task force also identified 43 active channels and groups on Telegram promoting and advertising online betting and casino games, with a total of 212,600 members.

The list of these accounts was forwarded on Sunday (27) to the relevant agencies at the Ministries of Finance and Justice “for technical and administrative verification of the operators’ status and the implementation of appropriate measures.”

The government identified promises of “260 percent monthly returns,” offers of betting “bots,” and claims of win rates as high as 99.8 percent.

“This coordinated effort aims to prevent the formal ban on betting from being circumvented by shifting such activities to social media, apps, closed groups, clandestine channels, or platforms hosted outside the country,” the Ministry of Justice said in a statement.

Illegal betting

Following the publication of the provisional measure banning betting, 440 new online betting sites reportedly emerged without registration in Brazil. The data come from the Bet Legal website, maintained by cybersecurity firm Iron Security, which provides services to online bookmakers in Brazil.

This platform began tracking the number of illegal betting sites on September 1 of this year, with the first illegal sites detected on September 21 - four days before the Brazilian government published the measure.

The Brazilian Army coordinated the eighth edition of the Guardião Cibernético (“Cyber Guardian”) event from September 21 to 25, a couple of weeks prior to Brazil’s presidential election. The exercise took place amid warnings from experts as well as the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (ABIN) regarding possible foreign interference in the Brazilian election.

The event brought together 1,300 participants in Brasília and six other state capitals, including São Paulo, Recife, Curitiba, and Manaus. The drill involved some 300 organizations and representatives from 14 countries.

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Described as “one of the most comprehensive cybersecurity training exercises in the Southern Hemisphere,” the exercise simulated digital threats with the aim of fostering cooperation between public and private institutions in the event of cyberattacks that could affect essential services for the population.

“During the drill, scenarios involving complex and coordinated cyberattacks were simulated, allowing procedures to be tested, contingency plans to be refined, and solutions to be identified in order to enhance national resilience,” the army stated in a press release.

In addition to the Armed Forces, the initiative brought together government agencies, regulatory bodies, and operators of critical infrastructure in the energy, water supply, telecommunications, and finance sectors, among others.

Risks of cyberattacks

Last week, a report by ABIN published by Folha de São Paulo and confirmed by TV Brasil warned of the risk of influence or interference by the US in the 2026 Brazilian elections.

Prepared in August of this year, the document classifies the possibility of foreign interference as a “critical issue” and contextualizes the problem by stating that “reaffirming US hegemony in Latin America” is a priority for US President Donald Trump’s second administration.

Analysts heard by Agência Brasil have warned of the risk of cyber operations by the US or big tech companies aimed at influencing the general elections in October, which could destabilize information and computer systems.

On August 12, the White House issued a memorandum outlining a partnership with private companies for actions involving “access to such information systems without the owner’s or operator’s authorization or exceeding authorized access.”

This week, Australia reported a hack of a website containing the country’s public health statistics by OpenAI, the owner of ChatGPT, one of the world’s leading artificial intelligence companies.

The Shield of the Americas coalition, led by the US and comprising 14 other Latin American countries, uses the fight against drug cartels as a pretext to interfere in Latin American countries and block China’s economic influence in the region.

The statement comes from experts in Latin American international relations consulted by Agência Brasil, such as Danilo Enrico Martuscelli, a professor of political science at the Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU).

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“The Shield of the Americas is a resumption of the process of attempting colonial or imperial annexation of Latin American countries by the US, driven by a geopolitical logic of commercial and technological competition with China,” he argued.

This week, on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly in New York, the 15 countries in the coalition released a document stating their intention to bring the proposal to combat drug cartels before the Organization of American States (OAS).

In the released document, the nations also agreed to designate 24 drug trafficking groups as “terrorist” organizations, including the Brazilian groups Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and Comando Vermelho (CV).

Expert Danilo Enrico Martuscelli describes the policy of Donald Trump’s second term as one of “open imperial aggression” and, in questioning the White House’s policy on combating cartels, points out that Trump himself granted a pardon to former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced to 45 years in prison for facilitating the importation of tons of cocaine into the US.

“Would someone committed to fighting drug trafficking grant a pardon and release a drug trafficker? They want to fight drug trafficking, but in other people’s backyards. Domestically, what are they doing to control this organized crime?” asked Danilo Martuscelli.

Created in March this year, the Shield of the Americas currently includes the US, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Interference in Latin America

Robson Valdez, a professor of international relations at the Brazilian Institute of Education, Development, and Research (IDP), noted that the focus of the Shield of the Americas is the possibility of using drug trafficking to legitimize interference in Latin America.

“And, indirectly, this signals to China that its relations with countries in the region would have to be reassessed from the perspective of US foreign policy,” he remarked.

According to Valdez, the coalition aims “primarily to [legitimize] the physical presence of US troops in the region under the pretext of combating organized crime.”

Brazil

Despite not having been invited to participate in the initiative, the Brazilian government views the Shield of the Americas with caution, while continuing to cooperate internationally with countries in the region to combat organized crime.

From Brasília’s perspective, the initiative could be used by Washington to secure automatic alignment on economic issues, with possible restrictions on China’s presence in Latin America.

In announcing the coalition, the Trump administration stated that the initiative aims not only to combat drug trafficking but also to “keep external threats at bay, including malign foreign influences from outside the Western Hemisphere.”

The Shield at the OAS

In the joint document published this week, the group states it intends to submit a proposal to the OAS for joint action by member countries in the fight against drug trafficking.

Once the formal meeting of the OAS consultative body is scheduled, the nations say they “intend to participate at the ministerial level to consider adopting a resolution promoting and facilitating collective action against narco-terrorist organizations under the Rio Treaty [TIAR, Inter-American Treaty on Reciprocal Assistance].”

Signed in 1947, during the Cold War, the TIAR stipulates that “an act of aggression against one American state constitutes an act of aggression against all other American states.”

Professor Danilo Martuscelli notes that, by bringing the issue to the OAS, the US-led group is attempting to pressure countries that have not yet endorsed the proposal – such as Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, and Canada.

“The appeal to the OAS is intended to lend some institutional legitimacy to this policy of open imperial pressure,” he said.

The Brazilian government is awaiting the presentation of the Shield of the Americas proposal to the OAS to determine whether it will support or reject a potential resolution by the international organization on the matter.

Drugs and the economy

The coalition’s document released in New York combines the fight against drugs with measures for “economic cooperation” among countries, including the protection of “supply chains for critical minerals through diversified and reliable sources.”

Critical minerals, which are key supplies in the technology, defense, and energy transition industries, are one of the focal points of the trade and technology dispute between Washington and Beijing.

“[We defend our economies] by promoting regulations on trusted suppliers for digital infrastructure, applied in a non-discriminatory manner,” the joint document adds.

Professor Valdez added that the Shield of the Americas could be used to mandate the sale of US military equipment, “which strips countries of their autonomy to choose their partners for arms purchases.”