Spain Collaborates with IBM to Advance National AI Strategy

Spanish Government and IBM have signed the new agreement. It will allow the development of foundational models for Artificial Intelligence, native in Spanish and co-official languages.

The Government of Spain, through its Ministry for Digital Transformation, the Civil Service, and IBM signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). It will promote their collaboration in the field of AI and AI supercomputing, advance the development and practical deployment of open, ethical, and responsible generative AI in Spain, and share the vision to create a leading suite of foundation models including both large language models (LLMs) and small language models (SLMs), proficient in the Spanish language and co-official languages.

"AI positions us at the threshold of a new industrial revolution, with a very significant potential impact in terms of productivity gains for a large number of economic sectors and in providing better public services to our citizens," said José Luis Escrivá, Minister for Digital Transformation and Civil Service of the Government of Spain. "The Government of Spain is promoting a useful and ethical development of the opportunities offered by this technology. IBM, with its experience, knowledge, and resources, is an excellent partner to accompany us in our vision."

"IBM shares this bold vision to accelerate the Government of Spain's AI strategy and to be the national AI partner for Spain," said Darío Gil, IBM SVP and Director of IBM Research. "We will leverage IBM's deep investments across the entire AI stack, from compute to models, and we will enable an open community to drive the full potential of AI technologies. Together, we will work to foster the responsible use of AI to drive sustainable growth in Spain, and all Spanish-speaking countries worldwide."

Spanish is the second leading spoken language in the world (6.2% of the world's population). Creating models that are entirely designed in Spanish will enhance AI sustainability by reducing biases and providing competitive alternatives for the Spanish industry. These models will be refined using advanced tuning and alignment techniques, encompassing innovative methods that facilitate direct community enhancements and foster an ecosystem of AI creators and builders, utilizing assets developed through this collaboration.