The Council of Ministers has approved the 2024 Artificial Intelligence Strategy, which outlines actions in this field for 2024 and 2025. The plan will be funded with 1.5 billion euros, mainly from the recovery plan and the Addendum, in addition to the 600 million euros already deployed under the 2020 National Artificial Intelligence Strategy. In total, 2.1 billion euros will be allocated to boost a technology that the Government considers critical for Spain’s development. The Government stated that AI offers a great opportunity for economic transformation and the need to strengthen and accelerate its deployment in Spain. The Minister of Digital Transformation and Public Function, José Luis Escrivá, emphasized that this is a clear commitment to transparent and ethical AI.
One of the actions included in this plan is an investment of 90 million euros in the MareNostrum 5 at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), Europe’s supercomputer with the largest data storage capacity and third in maximum performance. The government aims to update it with new semiconductors and prepare for the deployment of a new version, the MareNostrum Plus. There will also be a commitment to utilize 20% of the center’s capacities for industrial activities, in addition to strengthening the Spanish supercomputing network. Additionally, a sustainable Data Processing Centers Royal Decree will be approved before the end of the year to regulate these critical infrastructures, which are essential for digital development and AI but require a lot of electricity and water for cooling.
The Ministry is working on this decree with the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge to go beyond EU standards regarding energy efficiency and water consumption requirements. The government sees the need for more data centers to support the country’s digitalization and wants Spain to lead the development of sustainable data centers. Another priority is the launch of a Spanish-language ChatGPT model, named Alia, trained in various regional languages. The Ministry plans to dedicate 10 million euros to this project, expanding the linguistic corpus to a minimum of four trillion words. The goal is to make Alia transparent and open, ensuring protection of the rights of the texts used in the system.
The Ministry aims to develop models with up to 175 billion parameters, similar to the first version of ChatGPT. Collaboration with the Ministry of Culture is ongoing to ensure the protection of text copyrights. Alia will have a larger corpus in Spanish and regional languages compared to other models, which will enhance its reliability for Spanish speakers. The government intends to promote Alia for use in both the public and private sectors when it is operational. Another pillar of the strategy is talent development in AI, with 760 million euros allocated to AI scholarships, training projects, new FP specialties, and public and private sector AI usage. Special attention will be given to SMEs, with programs to advise on AI adoption and funding for AI solutions.
The Government also plans to pass a cybersecurity law and establish the Spanish Agency for AI Supervision (Aesia) to ensure responsible and ethical deployment of AI technology, as required by the European AI Regulation. The focus is on promoting talent development, fostering AI usage in the public and private sectors, and ensuring a responsible approach to AI technology in Spain. Through these initiatives, the Government aims to position Spain as a leader in AI development and digital transformation. Subscribe for unlimited access to continue reading.
