Spain Creates New Regulator For AI

Spain is making moves to take the lead on artificial intelligence (AI) regulation in the European Union. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez recently announced the formation of the Spanish Agency for the Supervision of Artificial Intelligence (AESIA).

The agency will be the first of its kind in the EU region and will be tasked with establishing a licensing regime for AI developers. AESIA will further assist in carrying out the objectives of the national AI strategy.

Under the proposed EU rules, which are set to become the ‘tone setter’ for global AI regulations, AI-based predictive policing systems as well as real-time remote biometric identification systems have been banned.

Carme Artigas, head of the AI Ministry leading a coalition of tech firms, urged EU lawmakers to lessen restrictions on open-source AI in order to encourage innovation, as a majority of AI projects are non-profits.

Related: Spain Aims To Set Up AI Regulations During Its EU Rotating Presidency

Speaking on the matter, Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez said,”The whole EU—and, I must say, Spain—should keep being a leader in the fields of AI and digital transformation. We need adequate rules.” He further commented that AI executive Carme Artigas’ path is truly the only way, adding, “We don’t like the way where data is in the hands of private companies [as in the U.S.], or in the hands of the government, like in China. The (EU’s ) third way is the only way. The rest of the world now realizes that’s the only way to regulate this technology.”

As Spain and the rest of the EU prepare to make a stand on global AI regulation, it will be interesting to see how the tech industry responds to the new policies as well as AESIA’s implementation strategy.

Source: Coin Geek