Spain's Prime Minister on AI Industry Safety Warnings
The Spanish prime minister launched a 12-month AI plan in Madrid on Monday and will convene unions and employers next month for what he calls a social contract for AI.
"La autorregulación no funciona." (Self-regulation does not work) said Pedro Sánchez, addressing employers and union officials at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid.
His comments followed recent statements from figures like Dario Amodei, Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and Demis Hassabis, who have expressed concerns about AI safety. The prime minister suggested some of these warnings might be motivated by fundraising efforts.
This speech introduced Plan IA360, a twelve-month program encompassing:
- An AI gigafactory
- New models developed with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center
- A voucher scheme to aid small businesses in adopting AI
- Aiming for over half of Spanish companies to use AI by 2030
- Curriculum updates
- Stricter oversight of advanced AI models
Sánchez emphasized the importance of communities evaluating data centers based on their water and power usage. He will gather social partners next month to discuss a Social Contract for AI, focusing on job security.
Additionally, he advocates for companies to be legally and financially accountable for their algorithms' actions, including deepfakes, mental health harm in young people, and intellectual property theft.
Spain has made strides in AI, establishing AESIA, the dedicated AI supervisory agency, but its national AI law remains a bill pending passage by the end of 2027.