Spain says AI cannot self-regulate as government launches 12-month deployment plan

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says artificial intelligence companies cannot be left to regulate themselves, as his government prepares a 12-month programme combining tighter controls with billions of euros of investment in domestic AI infrastructure.

Sánchez said Spain would strengthen its defensive cybersecurity capabilities in response to increasingly powerful frontier AI models while pursuing greater national control over data and computing capacity.

The government also intends to impose stronger environmental and energy requirements on data centres as AI infrastructure expands.

Spain pushes ahead with AI gigafactory

The regulatory measures form part of a broader programme designed to increase Spain’s ability to develop and deploy artificial intelligence.

A major component is Spain’s proposed AI gigafactory, which would provide large-scale computing infrastructure for training and operating advanced AI models.

Spain has already committed €720 million in public investment to the company behind the proposed facility, alongside a €300 million contribution through EuroHPC.

The wider project is expected to mobilise as much as €5 billion in investment.

The government also plans to use the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre to develop new AI models focused on areas including health, climate and energy.

New rules for data centres and national data

Spain’s 12-month roadmap also includes measures addressing the physical infrastructure required to support expanding AI use.

The government wants stronger environmental and energy-efficiency standards for data centres, which consume substantial quantities of electricity and can also require significant water resources for cooling.

Greater control over strategically important national data is another part of the programme.

The measures are intended to increase Spain’s domestic technological capacity while reducing dependence on infrastructure and systems controlled elsewhere.

Sánchez rejects industry self-regulation

Sánchez’s comments place Spain firmly among European governments arguing that the development of increasingly capable AI systems requires public oversight.

His government is simultaneously pursuing a substantial expansion of the computing infrastructure required to develop and deploy those systems.

The next 12 months will therefore see Spain pursuing both elements of its AI strategy: greater domestic AI capacity alongside stronger government oversight of how that technology develops and operates.