Spain's PM Pedro Sanchez Rejects AI Self-Regulation, Launches 12-Month National Plan

Pedro Sanchez Declares AI Industry Cannot Be Self-Regulated

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez delivered a forceful rejection of AI self-regulation at a government event in Madrid on Monday, declaring that artificial intelligence cannot be left to those who control the technology1

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. Speaking hours before departing for the UN General Assembly, the outspoken critic of tech oligarchs warned that unregulated artificial intelligence concentrated among a handful of companies and countries would have devastating consequences for democracy and shared prosperity3

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"If artificial intelligence is concentrated among a few companies and a handful of countries, its impact on shared prosperity, and therefore on the idea of democracy, will be very negative, if not devastating," Sanchez told employers and union officials at the Moncloa Palace3

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. He characterized the current situation not as a race but as a stampede, emphasizing that self-regulation does not work2

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Government Oversight Takes Priority Over Industry Warnings

Sanchez questioned the motives behind recent safety warnings from leading AI figures, suggesting that some statements from key industry leaders may be partly designed to attract investors rather than address genuine concerns2

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. His comments came nine days after Dario Amodei published an essay urging slower AI development, which received support from Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and Demis Hassabis on the same day2

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The Spanish leader referenced an interview where one of these "techno-oligarchs" asked for trust, to which his answer was an unequivocal no2

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. Drawing historical parallels, he invoked William Vanderbilt, who once told a reporter he cared only about stockholders, not the public, noting that some business leaders still claim AI regulation hurts innovation just as they did 150 years ago2

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Spain Unveils Plan IA360: A 12-Month Roadmap for Responsible AI

The prime minister outlined Plan IA360, a comprehensive 12-month roadmap aimed at supporting responsible deployment and economic growth while addressing concerns over privacy, discrimination, job losses, misinformation, and the concentration of computing power among tech giants1

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. The plan includes several concrete initiatives: a proposed AI gigafactory, new AI models developed in partnership with the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre for climate, health, and energy applications, and a voucher scheme to help small businesses and the self-employed adopt AI technology2

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Spain has set an ambitious target for more than half of Spanish companies to use AI by 2030, alongside curriculum changes and stricter oversight of advanced models2

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. Sanchez emphasized that data centres must meet high environmental and energy standards while protecting data autonomy and benefiting local communities1

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. "We must develop this technology not behind citizens' backs but in a way that people see it as an opportunity rather than a tool for depleting their scarce resources," he stated4

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New Social Contract for Artificial Intelligence Targets Job Security

Next month, Sanchez will convene unions and employers to begin negotiations on what he calls a new social contract for artificial intelligence, with a primary focus on job security2

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. This agreement aims to offer security to people facing changes in work and life that AI technology will bring3

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. The initiative represents an effort to build consensus among social partners about how AI governance should protect workers while enabling innovation.

Sanchez also called for companies to bear legal and financial responsibility for algorithmic harms, including deepfakes, damage to young people's mental health, and theft of intellectual property2

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. His government announced it would reinforce defensive cybersecurity measures to respond to what he described as "aggressive" frontier AI models1

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Spain Leverages Existing Structures for International AI Coordination

Rather than creating new international organizations, Sanchez argued that necessary structures already exist, including the EU AI Office and the UN scientific panel on AI, which Spain helped negotiate and hosted in Madrid2

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. He emphasized strengthening these efforts with partners like Canada, Japan, and other European countries. Spain was the first country to establish a dedicated AI supervisory agency, AESIA, now based in A Coruña2

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. He described the EU AI Act as a Spanish achievement, since it was agreed during Spain's EU presidency2

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However, Spain's national AI law remains only a bill. The cabinet sent it to parliament in May, but passage is not expected before the end of 2027, meaning binding rules will come from EU regulations rather than Madrid until then2

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. This timeline reveals a gap between Spain's regulatory ambitions and legislative reality, even as Sanchez positions his government at the forefront of AI governance debates worldwide.