Holness: Government approves MOU with investors to explore AI infrastructure in Jamaica

He framed the announcement with a history lesson. When the industrial revolution started, he said, Jamaica was still a plantation economy, and sugar was "doomed to fail because it did not incorporate technology". Jamaica was later still catching up after the information age began in the 1950s, he said. He described artificial intelligence as the next revolution, one that will "increase the productivity of mankind far beyond what we are now perceiving", and told the delegates: "We cannot be left behind again."

Mr Holness said the government has also put an AI task force in place to advise it on what to do.

The Prime Minister spoke to a delegates-only conference at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, attended by about 6,000 party delegates, with his address streamed live to the public. The party scaled the event down, forgoing its usual public rally at the National Arena in Kingston, saying many Jamaicans, including party members, "continue to recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa", according to the Gleaner. The business session was also due to deal with the election of the party's leader and deputies, with Mr Holness having been nominated unopposed for another year as leader in October.

Mr Holness has spoken about artificial intelligence before. At the Visionaries' Summit in Miami in September, the Jamaica Observer and the Gleaner reported him saying "There is no turning back from artificial intelligence", and that the question for Jamaica is how it takes part in these technologies and how it regulates them responsibly. He also said Jamaica must be open to new energy solutions that can power future industries competitively. Organisers of the summit said participants discussed how AI, data infrastructure and advanced industries are creating demand for reliable power.

The government has also previously linked a national AI laboratory at the University of Technology, Jamaica, to its workforce strategy.