Madrid, May 14, 2024.- The Council of Ministers approved today, on the proposal of the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Function, the Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2024. The strategy continues the initiatives deployed by the Government of Spain so far in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), adapting them to the notable changes experienced in this technology in recent years.

This strategy reinforces Spain’s commitment to the technological vanguard, reaffirming its position as a leader in the development and application of AI solutions. It is an ambitious plan, designed to consolidate and expand the use of AI throughout the economy and in public administration. Its deployment will take place in 2024 and 2025, and will have resources of 1,500 million euros, in addition to the 600 million already mobilized, mainly from the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and the addendum to that Plan.

The Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2024 is structured in 3 axes that will activate 8 action levers.

Axis 1: Capacity building for AI development

This axis of the strategy emphasizes the need to strengthen the levers for the development of Artificial Intelligence to be able to make the most of the opportunities offered by this technology, which is showing so much dynamism. Specifically, this axis focuses on four elements: the strengthening of supercomputing, sustainable storage capacity, language models and the need for talent.

First, the AI 2024 Strategy starts from the reality that supercomputing is a fundamental pillar for the advancement of AI. Therefore, it includes the investment of 90 million euros for the implementation of new highly specialized clusters, which will improve the performance of the MareNostrum 5, of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center-National Supercomputing Center (BSC-CNS), and the reinforcement of the Spanish Supercomputing Network. These actions aim to significantly increase the data processing capabilities available to the industry and research sector, enabling more advanced and complex developments in AI. In addition, to encourage companies to use AI, the Strategy includes a commitment to dedicate 20% of the MareNostrum 5’s capacity to the industry.

Secondly, the strategy includes initiatives for the establishment of environmentally sustainable Data Processing Centres (CPDs), through a new regulatory framework that improves the planning of these infrastructures and simplifies administrative procedures, as well as ordering the implementation of future CPDs territorially. These measures will position Spain as a reference in the implementation of AI practices that respect the environment and promote the efficient use of resources.
Thirdly, this axis includes the creation and expansion of a family of language models in Spanish and co-official languages to be called ALIA, the first results of which will be available at the end of the summer. These models, which will have more than 20% training in Spanish and co-official languages, compared to less than 5% of current models, will reduce biases and improve the practical applications that companies and administrations in our country can develop.

Finally, the fourth lever of this axis is the promotion of specialized talent in Artificial Intelligence in a context in which there is a great demand for professionals. The Strategy will promote networking and the search for synergies between projects that are already underway and that have involved an investment of EUR 600 million. In addition, it will invest another 160 million more in scholarships, Vocational Training and teacher training, among other issues.

Axis 2: Facilitating the application of AI in the public and private sector

The GobTech Lab project will be used in the implementation of AI in the State Administration (AGE), which will channel the cases of use of this technology through an innovation laboratory to develop pilot projects and innovative solutions for the public sector. In addition, a common data governance model and corpus of the AGE will be developed that guarantees standards of security-anonymity, quality, interoperability and reuse of data.

Secondly, in order to promote the development of AI in the private sector, especially in the area of SMEs and the self-employed, the Kit Consulting programme will be developed, with EUR 300 million, so that smaller business projects can hire advisory services for the adoption of AI. In addition, the Digital Kit program has been expanded with the incorporation of new AI products and an investment of 350 million. EUR 400 million will also be dedicated through the NextTech Fund to provide funding to companies developing AI solutions.

This axis is completed with the future Cybersecurity Law, which will establish a clear and comprehensive framework to develop national cybersecurity and improve the protection of information systems, networks and data, and with the promotion of the business ecosystem of cybersecurity with AI that will promote innovation, collaboration and the adoption of AI technologies in the field of cybersecurity.

In addition, for initiatives under Axes 1 and 2 (lever 4 and 6), up to EUR 300 million from the ERDF Funds will be invested.

Axis 3: Foster a transparent, ethical and humanistic AI

The fulfillment of the objectives of this axis will be articulated through the Spanish Agency for Supervision of Artificial Intelligence (AESIA), which will act in a triple direction: as a center of thought and analysis on AI (analyzing trends, generating social debate and identifying good practices and emerging risks), as a supervisor of a responsible deployment of AI (certifying AI systems according to the European regulation of AI and establishing good practices to promote transparent and open models) and as an international reference (participating in the European and world institutions of governance of AI).

In his assessment during the press conference following the Council of Ministers, the Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Service, José Luis Escrivá, said that "this strategy not only strengthens our technological infrastructure and innovation capacities, but also ensures that the development of Artificial Intelligence in our country is carried out under the highest standards of sustainability and ethics. It is a step towards a more digitalized and competitive economy, where technology serves the well-being of all citizens."

Monitoring and governance model

The Artificial Intelligence Strategy and its initiatives will be coordinated by the Secretary of State for Digitization and Artificial Intelligence, but due to its scope and impact, all ministries will participate.

To this end, the Interministerial Commission for the coordination and monitoring of measures for the connectivity and digitization of the economy and society has recently been created within the framework of the General Administration of the State, whose chairmanship is the responsibility of the head of the Secretary of State for Digitization and Artificial Intelligence. Through this committee, the different phases of the measures that make up the Strategy will be reported and followed up.

In addition, specifically for Lever 3 of the Strategy, “Generate Models and Corpus for a Public Infrastructure of Language Models”, a governance agreement has been designed in which 15 specialized institutions participate, such as the Basque Language Technology Center (HiTZ) and the Singular Research Center in Intelligent Technologies (CiTIUS) of the University of Santiago de Compostela, among others.

Finally, with the objective that the Strategy serves to improve the processes of the Administration, meetings will be held on a biannual basis of the ICT Strategy Commission, the highest ICT governance body in the General Administration of the State, in which all the Ministries are represented, in order to detect, select and deploy use cases in which clear benefits are seen for the improvement of the service to citizens, and to have a more efficient and effective administration.