Spain Unveils Comprehensive AI Strategy for 2024 with a Budget of €2.1 Billion

Spain has approved its Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2024, a comprehensive plan that outlines actions in this area for the next two years. The strategy has a budget of 2.1 billion euros, which will be used to promote AI and position Spain as a leader in the responsible and ethical deployment of this technology.

The Minister of Digital Transformation and Public Function, José Luis Escrivá, emphasized the importance of AI for economic transformation and stated that the government is committed to transparent and ethical use of the technology. One of the key actions in the plan is the investment of 90 million euros in upgrading MareNostrum 5 at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. The government also plans to use 20% of the center’s capacities for industrial activities and expand the Spanish supercomputing network.

Another priority of the Ministry is to develop sustainable data centers through a Royal Decree on sustainable Data Processing Centers. The decree aims to regulate key infrastructures for digital development and AI, with a focus on energy efficiency and water consumption standards that exceed European regulations to ensure sustainability. The government aims to establish Spain as a leader in sustainable data centers to support the country’s digitalization efforts.

Furthermore, Alia, a Spanish language model developed by AI experts, will be trained in multiple languages and have a larger corpus than existing models like ChatGPT. This will make Alia more transparent, open, and reliable for Spanish speakers while addressing biases and language nuances unique to their culture. The government plans to promote Alia for use in both public and private sectors across different industries such as healthcare, finance, education, etc.

To promote talent development in AI and enhance its use across different sectors